ROBERT    W.    PRATT 

81O  SOUTH  SPRiMQ  ST. 

LOS  ANGELES,  CAL. 


" Handwriting  is  a  gesture  of  the  mind" 


Disputed  Handwriting 


An  Exhaustive,  Valuable,  and  Comprehensive  Work  upon 

One  of  the  Most  Important  Subjects  of  To-day. 

With  Illustrations  and    Expositions  for  the 

Detection  and  Study  of  Forgery  by 

Handwriting  of  All  Kinds 


By 

Jerome  B.  Lavay 


The  first  work  of  the  kind  ever  published  in  the  United  States. 

For  the  Protection  of  America's  Banks 

and  Business  Houses. 


Harvard  Book  Company 

334  Dearborn  Street 

Chicago 


COPYRIGHTED,  igog 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Ojt  Isknttt  ^UBB 

R.  R.  DONNELLEY  &•  SONS  COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


TO  THE 
AMERICAN  BANKERS'  ASSOCIATION 

THAT  POWERFUL  AGENCY  WHICH  HAS 

ELEVATED  THE  STANDARD  OF  BANKING  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 

AND  AN  INSTITUTION  THAT  FOLLOWS  ALL  WRONGDOERS 

AGAINST   MEMBERS   OF  THE  FRATERNITY 

RELENTLESSLY  AND  SUCCESSFULLY 
THIS  WORK  IS  MOST  RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED 


20680G5 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

HOW   TO    STUDY   FORGED   AND    DISPUTED 
SIGNATURES 

All  Titles  Depend  Upon  the  Genuineness  of  Signatures  —  Comparing  Genuine 
with  Disputed  Signatures  —  A  Word  about  Fac-simile  Signatures  —  Process 
of  Evolving  a  Signature  —  Evidence  of  Experience  in  Handling  or  Mishandling 
a  Pen  —  Signature  Most  Difficult  to  Read  —  Simulation  of  Signature  by  Expert 
Penman  —  Hard  to  Imitate  an  Untrained  Hand  —  A  Well-Known  Banker 
Presents  Some  Valuable  Points  —  Perfectly  Imitated  Writings  and  Signatures 
—  Bunglingly  Executed  Forgeries  —  The  Application  of  Chemical  Tests  — 
Rules  of  Courts  on  Disputed  Signatures  —  Forgers  Giving  Appearance  of  Age 
to  Paper  and  Ink  —  Proving  the  Falsity  of  Testimony  —  Determining  the 
Genuineness  or  Falsity  by  Anatomy  or  Skeleton  —  Making  a  Magnified  Copy 
of  a  Signature  —  Effectiveness  of  the  Photograph  Process  —  Deception  the 
Eye  Will  Not  Detect  —  When  Pen  Strokes  Cross  Each  Other  —  Experimenting 
With  Crossed  Lines  —  Signatures  Written  With  Different  Inks  —  Deciding 
Order  of  Sequence  in  Writing  —  An  Important  and  Interesting  Subject  for 
Bankers  —  Determining  the  Genuineness  of  a  Written  Document  —  Ingenuity 
of  Rogues  Constantly  Takes  New  Forms  —  A  Systematic  Analysis  Will  Detect 
Disputed  Signatures  ------  -  -  -  -  3 


CHAPTER   II 
FORGERY   BY   TRACING 

Forgeries  Perpetrated  by  the  Aid  of  Tracing  a  Common  and  Dangerous  Method  — 
Using  Transparent  Tracing  Paper  —  How  the  Movements  are  Directed  — 
Formal,  Broken  and  Nervous  Lines  —  Retouched  Lines  and  Shades  —  Tracing 
Usually  Presents  a  Close  Resemblance  to  the  Genuine  —  Traced  Forgeries  Not 
Exact  Duplicates  of  Their  Originals  —  The  Danger  of  an  Exact  Duplication  — 
Forgers  Usually  Unable  to  Exactly  Reproduce  Tracing  —  Using  Pencil  or 
Carbon-Guided  Lines  —  Retouching  Revealed  under  the  Microscope  —  Tracing 
with  Pen  and  Ink  Over  a  Transparency  —  Making  a  Practice  and  Study 
of  Signatures  —  Forgeries  and  Tracings  Made  by  Skillful  Imitators  Most 
Difficult  of  Detection  —  Free-Hand  Forgery  and  Tracing  —  A  Few  Important 
Matters  to  Observe  in  Detecting  Forgery  by  Tracing  —  Photographs  a  Great 
Aid  in  Detecting  Tracing  —  How  to  Compare  Imitated  and  Traced  Writing  — 
Furrows  Traced  by  Pen  Nibs  —  Tracing  Made  by  an  Untrained  Hand  — 
Tracing  with  Pen  and  Ink  Over  a  Transparency  —  Internal  Evidence  of 
Forgery  by  Tracing  —  Forgeries  Made  by  Skillful  Imitators  —  How  to  De- 
termine Evidences  of  Forgery  by  Tracing  —  Remains  of  Tracings  —  Examin- 
ing Paper  in  Transmitted  Light  —  Freely  Written  Tracings  —  A  Dangerous 
Method  of  Forgery  ------.  __>-  17 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   III 
HOW    FORGERS   REPRODUCE   SIGNATURES 

Characteristics  Appearing  in  Forged  Signatures  —  Conclusions  Reached  by  Careful 
Examinations  —  Signatures  Written  with  Little  Effort  to '.Imitate  —  What  a 
Clever  Forger  Can  Do  —  Most  Common  Forgeries  of  Signatures  —  Repro- 
ducing a  Signature  over  a  Plate  of  Glass  —  A  Window  Frame  Scheme  for  Re- 
producing Signatures  —  How  the  Paper  is  Held  and  the  Ink  Applied  —  How 
a  Genuine  Signature  is  Placed  and  Used  —  A  Forger's  Process  of  Tracing  a 
Signature  —  How  to  Detect  Earmarks  of  Fraud  in  a  Reproduced  Signature  — 
Prominent  Features  of  Signatures  Reproduced  —  Method  Resorted  to  by 
Novices  in  Forging  Signatures  —  Conditions  Appearing  in  All  Traced  Signatures 

—  Reproduction  of  Signatures  Adopted  by  Expert  Forgers  —  Making  a  Lead- 
Pencil  Copy  of  a  Signature  —  Erasing  Pencil  Signatures  Always  Discoverable 
by  the  Aid  of  a  Microscope  —  Appearances  and  Conditions  in  Traced  Signatures 

—  How  to  Tell  a  Traced  Signature  —  All  the  Details  Employed  to  Reproduce 
a  Signature  Given  —  Features  in  Which  Forgers  are  Careless  —  Handling  of 
the  Pen  Often  Leads  to  Detection  —  A  Noted  Characteristic  of  Reproduced 
Signatures  —  Want  of  Proportion  in  Writing  Names  Should  Be  Studied  — 
Rules  to  Be  Followed  in  Examining  Signatures  —  System  Employed  by  Experts 
in  Studying  Proof  of  Reproduced  Signatures  —  Bankers  and  Business  Men 
Should  Avoid  Careless  Signatures     --         -         -         -         -         -         -         2? 


CHAPTER   IV 
ERASURES,   ALTERATIONS   AND   ADDITIONS 

What  Erasure  Means  —  The  English  Law  —  What  a  Fraudulent  Alteration 
Means  —  Altered  or  Erased  Parts  Considered  —  Memoranda  of  Alterations 
Should  Always  Accompany  Paper  Changed  —  How  Added  Words  Should  be 
Treated  —  How  to  Erase  Words  and  Lines  Without  Creating  Suspicion  — 
Writing  Over  an  Erasure  —  How  to  Determine  Whether  or  Not  Erasures  or 
Alterations  Have  Been  Made  —  Additions  and  Interlineations  —  What  to 
Apply  to  the  Suspected  Document  —  The  Alcohol  Test  Absolute  —  How  to 
Tell  which  of  Crossing  Ink  Lines  Were  Made  First  —  Ink  and  Pencil  Alterations 
and  Erasures  —  Treating  Paper  to  Determine  Erasures,  Alterations  and  Ad- 
ditions —  Appearance  of  Paper  Treated  as  Directed  —  Paper  That  Does  Not 
Reveal  Tampering  —  How  Removal  of  Characters  From  a  Paper  is  Affected  — 
Easy  Means  of  Detecting  Erasures  —  Washing  with  Chemical  Reagents  — 
Restoration  of  Original  Marks  —  What  Erasure  on  Paper  Exhibits  —  Erasure 
in  Parchments  —  Identifying  Typewritten  Matter  —  Immaterial  Alterations 
—  Altering  Words  in  an  Instrument  —  Alterations  and  Additions  Are  Imma- 
terial When  Interests  of  Parties  Are  Not  Changed  or  Affected  —  Erasure  of 
Words  in  an  Instrument  ----------39 


VI 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 
HOW  TO   WRITE  A   CHECK  TO   PREVENT  FORGING 

How  a  Paying  Teller  Determines  the  Amount  of  a  Check  —  Written  Amount  and 
Amount  in  Figures  Conflict  —  Depositor  Protected  by  Paying  Teller  —  Chief 
Concern  of  Drawer  of  a  Check  —  Transposing  Figures  —  Writing  a  Check  That 
Cannot  Be  Raised  —  Writers  who  Are  Easy  Marks  for  Forgers  —  Safeguards 
for  Those  who  Write  Checks  —  An  Example  of  Raised  Checks  —  Payable 
"To  Bearer"  Is  Always  a  Menace  —  Paying  Teller  and  An  Endorsement 
System  Must  Be  Observed  in  Writing  Checks  —  How  a  Check  Must  Be  Written 
to  Be  Absolutely  Safe  —  A  Signature  that  Cannot  Be  Tampered  with  Without 
Detection  —  Paying  Tellers  Always  Vigilant  --  -  -  -  -  55 


CHAPTER  VI 

METHODS  OF   FORGERS,   CHECK  AND   DRAFT 
RAISERS 

Professional  Forgers  and  Their  Methods  —  Using  Engravers  and  Lithographers  — 
Their  Knowledge  of  Chemicals  —  Patching  Perforated  Paper  —  Difficult 
Matter  to  Detect  Alterations  and  Forgeries  —  Selecting  Men  for  the  Work  — 
The  Middle  Man,  Presenter,  and  Shadow  —  Methods  for  Detecting  Forgery  — 
Detailed  Explanation  of  How  Forgers  Work  —  Altering  and  Raising  Checks 
and  Drafts  —  A  Favorite  Trick  of  Forgers  —  Opening  a  Bank  Account  for  a 
Blind  —  Private  Marks  on  Checks  no  Safeguard  —  How  a  Genuine  Signature 
Is  Secured  —  Bankers  Can  Protect  Themselves  —  A  Forger  the  Most  Danger- 
ous Criminal  —  Bankers  Should  Scrutinize  Signatures  —  Sending  Photograph 
with  Letter  of  Advice  —  How  to  Secure  Protection  Against  Forgers  —  Manner 
in  Which  Many  Banks  Have  Been  Swindled  —  Points  About  Raising  Checks 
and  Drafts  That  Should  Be  Carefully  Noted 61 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE   HANDWRITING   EXPERT 

No  Law  Regulating  Experience  and  Skill  Necessary  to  Constitute  an  Expert  — 
Expert  Held  Competent  to  Testify  in  Court  —  Bank  Officials  and  Employees 
Favored  —  An  Expert  On  Signatures  —  Methods  Experts  Employ  to  Identify 
the  Work  of  the  Pen  —  Where  and  When  an  Expert's  Services  Are  Needed  — 
Large  Field  and  Growing  Demand  for  Experts  — Qualifications  of  a  Handwriting 
Expert  —  How  the  Work  is  Done  —  A  Good  Expert  Continously  Employed  — 
The  Expert  and  the  Charlatan  —  Qualifying  as  An  Expert  —  A  System  Which 
Produces  Results  —  Principal  Tests  Applied  by  Handwriting  Experts  to  De- 
termine Genuineness  —  Identification  of  Individual  by  His  Handwriting  — 
How  to  Tell  Kind  of  Ink  and  Process  Used  to  Forge  a  Writing  —  Rules  Followed 
by  Experts  in  Determining  Cases  —  The  Testimony  of  a  Handwriting  Expert 
—  Explaining  Methods  Employed  to  Detect  Forged  Handwriting  —  The  Courts 

vii 


CONTENTS 

and  Experts  —  What  an  Expert  May  Testify  to  —  Trapping  a  Witness  — 
Proving  Handwriting  by  Experts  —  General  Laws  Regulating  Experts  — 
The  Basework  of  a  Handwriting  Expert  —  Important  Facts  an  Expert 
Begins  Examination  With  —  A  Few  Words  of  Advice  and  Suggestion  About 
"Pen  Scope" — Detection  of  Forgery  Easy — Rules  Herewith  Suggested 
Should  Be  Observed  —  Expert  Witnesses,  Courts,  and  Jurors  -  -  -  77 


CHAPTER  VIII 
HOW   TO    DETECT   FORGED    HANDWRITING 

Frequency  of  Litigation  Arising  over  Disputed  Handwriting  —  Forged  and  Ficti- 
tious Claims  Against  the  Estates  of  Deceased  People  —  Forgery  Certain  to  Be 
Detected  When  Subjected  to  Skilled  Expert  Examination  —  A  Forger's  Tracks 
Cannot  Be  Successfully  Covered  —  With  Modern  Devices  Fraudulent,  Forged 
and  Simulated  Writing  Can  Be  Determined  Beyond  the  Possibility  of  a  Mistake 

—  Bank  Officials  and  Disputed  Handwriting  —  How  to  Test  and  Determine 
Genuine  and  Forged  Signatures  —  Useful  Information  About  Signature  Writing 

—  Guard  Against  an  Illegible  Signature  —  Avoid  Gyrations,  Whirls  and  Flour- 
ishes —   Write  Plain,  Distinct  and  Legible  —  The  Signature  to  Adopt  —  The 
People  Forgers  Pass  By  —  How  Many  Imitate  Successfully  —  How  an  Expert 
Detects   Forged   Handwriting  —  Examples   of   Signatures   Forgers   Desire   to 
Imitate  —  Examining  and  Determining  a  Forgery  —  Comparisons  of  Disputed 
Handwriting  —  Microscopic  Examinations  a  Great  Help  in  Detecting  Forged 
Handwriting  —  Comparison  of  Forged  Handwriting  95 


CHAPTER   IX 
GREATEST   DANGER   TO   BANKS 

Check-Raising  Always  a  Danger  —  A  Scheme  Almost  Impossible  to  Prevent  — 
The  American  Banker's  Association  the  Greatest  Foe  to  Forgers  —  It  Follows 
Them  Relentlessly  and  Successfully  —  Chemically  Prepared  Paper  and  Water- 
marks Not  Always  a  Safeguard  —  Perforating  Machines  and  Check  Raisers  — 
How  Check  Perforations  Are  Overcome  —  How  an  Ordinary  Check  Is  Raised 
—  How  an  Expert  Alters  Checks  —  How  Perforations  Are  Filled  —  Hasty 
Examination  by  Paying  Tellers  Encourages  Forgers  —  The  Way  Bogus  Checks 
Creep  Through  a  Bank  Unnoticed  —  A  Celebrated  Forgery  Case  —  Forgers 
Successful  for  a  Time  Always  Caught  —  Where  Forgers  Usually  Go  That  Have 
Made  a  Big  Haul  —  A  Professional  Crook  Is  a  Person  of  Large  Acquaintance 
105 


CHAPTER   X 
THUMB   PRINTS   NEVER   FORGED 

Thumb-Print  Method  of  Identification  Absolute  —  Now  Brought  to  a  High  State 
of  Perfection  —  Will  Eventually  Be  Used  in  all  Banks  —  Certified  Checks  and 
Also  Drafts  with  Thumb-Print  Signatures  —  Absolute  Accuracy  of  a  Thumb- 

viii 


CONTENTS 

Print  Identification  Assured  —  A  Thumb-Print  in  Wax  on  Sealed  Packages  — 
Its  Use  an  Advantage  on  Bankable  Paper  of  All  Kinds  —  How  Strangers  Are 
Easily  Identified  —  Bankers,  Merchants  and  Business  Men  Protected  by  This 
System  —  Full  Particulars  as  to  How  Thumb-Prints  Are  Made  —  Can  be 
Printed  by  Anyone  in  a  Few  Minutes  —  How  and  When  to  Place  Your  Thumb- 
Print  on  Bankable  Paper  —  Finger-Prints  as  Reliable  as  Thumb-Prints  — 
Use  to  Which  This  System  Could  Be  Put  —  Thumb  and  Finger  Tips  Do  Not 
Change  From  Birth  to  Death  —  Department  of  Justice  at  Washington  Has 
Established  a  Bureau  of  Criminal  Registry  Using  the  Thumb-Print  System  — 
Thumb-Print  System  Said  to  Be  a  Chinese  Invention  —  Its  Use  Spreading 
Rapidly  —  How  to  Secure  Thumb-Print  Impression  Without  Knowledge  of 
Party  —  An  Interesting  and  Valuable  Study  -  -  -  -  -  115 


CHAPTER   XI 
DETECTING    FORGERY   WITH   THE   MICROSCOPE 

Determining  Questionable  Signatures  By  the  Aid  of  a  Microscope  —  A  Magnify- 
ing Glass  Not  Powerful  Enough  —  Character  of  Ink  Easily  Told  —  The  Micro- 
scope and  a  Knowledge  of  Its  Use  —  Experience  and  Education  of  an  Examiner 
of  Great  Assistance  —  An  Expert's  Opinion  —  The  Use  of  the  Microscope 
Recommended  —  Illustrating  a  Method  of  Forgery  —  What  a  Microscopic 
Examination  Reveals  —  How  to  Examine  Forged  Handwriting  with  a  Micro- 
scope —  Experts  and  a  Jury  —  What  the  Best  Authorities  Recommend 

129 

CHAPTER   XII 

SIGNATURE    EXPERTS   THE    SAFETY   OF   THE 
MODERN    BANK 

A  New  Departure  in  Banks  —  Examining  All  Signatures  a  Sure  Preventive  Against 
Forgery  —  The  "Filling  in"  Process  —  How  One  Forger  Operated  —  Marvel- 
ous Accuracy  of  a  Paying  Teller  —  How  He  Attained  Perfection  —  How  Sig- 
nature Clerks  Work  —  A  Common  Dodge  of  Forgers  —  Post  Dated  Checks  — 
A  System  That  Prevents  Forged  and  Raised  Checks  —  Not  a  Forged  or  Raised 
Check  Paid  in  Years  -  -  - -  137 

CHAPTER   XIII 
HOW   TO    DETERMINE   AGE   OF   ANY   WRITING 

The  Different  Kinds  of  Ink  Met  With  —  Inks  That  Darken  by  Exposure  to  Sun- 
light and  Air  —  Introduction  of  Aniline  Colors  to  Determine  the  Age  of  Writings 
—  An  Almost  Infallible  Rule  to  Follow  —  Determining  Age  of  Writing  By  Ink 
Used  —  The  Ammonia  System  a  Sure  One  —  A  Question  of  Great  Interest  to 
Bankers  and  Bank  Employes  —  Thick  and  Thin  Inks  —  So-Called  Safety  Inks 
That  Are  Not  Safe  —  How  to  Restore  Faded  Inks  —  An  Infallible  Rule  — 
Restoring  Faded  Writing  —  Restored  By  the  Silk  and  Cotton  System  That 
Anyone  Can  Arrange  —  Danger  of  Exposing  Restored  Writing  to  the  Sun 

145 

ix 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   XIV 

DETECTING   FRAUD   AND   FORGERY  IN   PAPERS 
AND   DOCUMENTS 

Infallible  Rules  for  the  Detection  of  Same  —  New  Methods  of  Research  —  Chang- 
ing Wills  and  Books  of  Accounts  —  Judgment  of  the  Naked  Eye  —  Using  a 
Microscope  or  Magnifying  Glass  —  Changeable  Effects  of  Ink  —  How  to  Detect 
the  Use  of  Different  Inks  —  Sized  Papers  Not  Easily  Altered  —  Inks  That 
Produce  Chemical  Effects  —  Inks  That  Destroy  Fiber  of  Paper  —  How  to  Test 
Tampered  or  Altered  Documents  —  Treating  Papers  Suspected  of  Forgery  — 
Using  Water  to  Detect  Fraud  —  Discovering  Scratched  Paper  —  Means  Forgers 
Use  to  Mask  Fraudulent  Operations  —  How  to  Prepare  and  Handle  Test  Papers 
—  Detecting  Paper  That  Has  Been  Washed  —  Various  Other  Valuable  Tests 
to  Determine  Forgery  —  A  Simple  Operation  That  Anyone  Can  Apply  — 
Iodine  Used  on  Papers  and  Documents  —  An  Alcohol  Test  That  Is  Certain  — 
Bringing  Out  Telltale  Spots  —  Double  Advantage  of  Certain  Tests  —  Re- 
appearance of  Former  Letters  or  Figures  —  What  Genuine  Writing  Reveals  — 
When  an  Entire  Paper  or  Document  is  Forged  -  -  -  -  -  153 


CHAPTER   XV 
GUIDED    HANDWRITING   AND    METHOD    USED 

The  Most  Frequent  and  Dangerous  Method  of  Forgery  —  How  to  Detect  a  Guided 
Signature  —  What  Guided  Handwriting  Is  and  How  It  Is  Done  —  Character 
of  Such  Writing  —  Writing  by  a  Guided  Hand  —  Difficulty  in  Writing  — 
Force  Exercised  by  Joint  Hands  —  A  Hand  More  or  Less  Passive  —  Work 
of  the  Controlling  Hand  —  How  Guided  Writing  Appears  —  Two  Writers 
Acting  in  Opposition  —  Distorted  Writing  —  How  a  Legitimate  Guided  Hand 
is  Directed  and  Supported  —  Pen  Motion  Necessary  to  Produce  Same  —  In- 
fluence in  Guiding  a  Stronger  Hand  —  Avoiding  an  Unnatural  and  Cramped 
Position  —  Effect  of  the  Brain  on  Guided  Hand  —  Separating  Characteristics 
from  Guided  Joint  Signature  —  Detecting  Writing  by  a  System  of  Measurement 
163 


CHAPTER   XVI 
TALES  TOLD   BY   HANDWRITING 

Telling  the  Nationality,  Sex  and  Age  of  Anyone  Who  Executes  Handwriting  — 
Americans  and  Their  Style  of  Writing  —  How  English,  German,  and  French 
Write  —  Gobert,  the  French  Expert,  and  How  He  Saved  Dreyfus  —  Miser 
Paine  and  His  Millions  Saved  by  an  Expert  —  Writing  with  Invisible  Ink  — 
Professor  Braylant's  Secret  Writing  Without  Ink  —  Professor  Gross  Discovers 
a  Simple  Secret  Writing  Method  With  a  Piece  of  Pointed  Hardwood  —  A 
System  Extensively  Used  —  Studying  the  Handwriting  of  Authors  —  How 
to  Determine  a  Person's  Character  and  Disposition  by  Handwriting  -  -  169 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   XVII 

WORKINGS   OF  THE   GOVERNMENT   SECRET 
SERVICE 

Officials  of  This  Department  Talk  About  Their  Work  —  How  Criminals  Are  Traced, 
Caught  and  Punished  —  Its  Work  Extending  to  All  Departments  —  Secret 
Service  Districts  —  Reports  Made  to  the  Treasury  Department  —  Good  Money 
and  Bad  —  How  to  Detect  the  False  —  System  of  Numbering  United  States 
Notes  Explained  —  Counterfeiting  on  the  Decrease  —  Counterfeiting  Gold 
Certificates  —  Bank  Tellers  and  Counterfeits  —  The  Best  Secret  Service  in  the 
World 181 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

CHARACTER   AND   TEMPERAMENT   INDICATED 
BY   HANDWRITING 

A  Man's  Handwriting  a  Part  of  Himself  —  Handwriting  and  Personality  —  Cheap 
Postage  and  Typewriters  Playing  Havoc  with  Writing  by  Hand  —  Old  Time 
Correspondence  Vanishing  —  Two  Divisions  of  Handwriting  —  Fashion  Has 
Changed  Even  Writing  —  Characteristic  Writing  of  Different  Professions  — 
One's  Handwriting  a  Sure  Index  to  Character  and  Temperament  —  Personality 
of  Handwriting  —  Handwriting  a  Voiceless  Speaking  —  A  Neglected  Science 

—  Interest  in  Disputed   Handwriting   Rapidly  Coming  to  the   Front  —  Set 
Writing   Copies   no   Longer  the   Rule  —  Formal   Handwriting  —  Education's 
Effect    on    Writing  —  Handwriting    and    Personality  —  The    Character    and 
Temperament  of  Writers  Easily  Told  —  Honest,  Eccentric,  and  Weak  People 

—  How  to  Determine    Character   by   Writing  —  The    Marks    of   Truth    and 
Straightforwardness  —  How    Perseverance    and    Patience    Are    Indicated    in 
Writing  —  Economy,  Generosity  and  Liberality  Easily  Shown  in  Writing  — 
The  Character  and  Temperament  of  Any  Writer  Easily  Shown  —  Studying 
Character  from    Handwriting    a    Fascinating    Work  —  Rules    for   Its   Study 

—  Links    in    a  Chain   That   Cannot   be    Hidden  —  A    Person's    Writing    a 
Surer  Index  to  Character  Than  His  Face       ------         191 


CHAPTER   XIX 
HANDWRITING    EXPERTS   AS   WITNESSES 

Who  May  Testify  As  An  Expert  —  Bank  Officials  and  Bank  Employes  Always 
Desired  —  Definition  of  Expert  and  Opinion  Evidence  —  Both  Witness  and 
Advocate  —  Witness  in  Cross  Examination  —  Men  Who  Have  Made  the  Science 
of  Disputed  Handwriting  a  Study  —  Objections  to  Appear  in  Court  —  Experts 
Contradicting  Each  Other  —  The  Truth  or  Falsity  of  Handwriting  —  Some- 
times a  Mass  of  Doubtful  Speculations  —  Paid  Experts  and  Veracity  — 
Present  Method  of  Dealing  with  Disputed  Handwriting  Experts  —  How  the 
Bench  and  Bar  Regard  the  System  —  Remedies  Proposed  —  Should  an  Expert 

xi 


CONTENTS 

Be  an  Adviser  of  the  Court?  —  Free  from  Cross-Examination  —  Opinions  of 
Eminent  Judges  on  Expert  Testimony  —  Experts  Who  Testify  Without  Ex- 
perience —  What  a  Bank  Cashier  or  Teller  Bases  His  Opinions  on  —  Actions 
and  Deductions  of  the  Trained  Handwriting  Expert  —  Admitting  Evidence  of 
Handwriting  Experts  —  Occupation  and  Theories  That  Make  an  Expert  — 
Difference  Between  an  Expert  and  a  Witness  —  Experts  and  Test  Writing  — 
What  Constitutes  An  Expert  in  Handwriting  —  Present  Practice  Regarding 
Experts  —  Assuming  to  Be  a  Competent  Expert  —  Testing  a  Witness  with 
Prepared  Forged  Signatures  —  Care  in  Giving  Answers  —  A  Writing  Teacher 
As  an  Expert  —  Familiarity  with  Signatures  —  What  a  Dash,  Blot,  or  Distortion 
of  a  Letter  Shows  —  What  a  Handwriting  Expert  Should  Confine  Himself  to  — 
Parts  of  Writing  Which  Demand  the  Closest  Attention  —  American  and  English 
Laws  on  Experts  in  Handwriting  —  Examination  of  Disputed  Handwriting 
- -  -  205 


CHAPTER   XX 
TAMPERED,    ERASED   AND    MANIPULATED    PAPER 

Sure  Rules  for  the  Detection  of  Forged  and  Fraudulent  Writing  of  Any  Kind  — 
A  European  Professor  Gives  Rules  for  Detecting  Fraud  —  How  to  Tell  Alter- 
ations Made  on  Checks,  Drafts,  and  Business  Paper  —  An  Infallible  System 
Discovered  —  Results  Always  Satisfactory  —  Can  Be  Used  by  Anyone  — 
Vapor  of  Iodine  a  Valuable  Agent  —  Paper  That  Has  Been  Wet  or  Moistened 
—  Colors  That  Tampered  Paper  Assumes ' —  Tracing  Written  Characters  with 
Water  —  Making  Writing  Legible  —  How  to  Tell  Paper  That  Has  Been  Erased 
or  Rubbed  —  What  a  Light  Will  Disclose  —  Erasing  with  Bread  Crumbs  — 
Hard  to  Detect  —  How  to  Discover  Traces  of  Manipulation  —  Erased  Surface 
Made  Legible  —  Treating  Partially  Erased  Paper  —  Detecting  Nature  of 
Substance  Used  for  Erasing  —  Use  of  Bread  Crumbs  Colors  Papers  —  Tracing 
Writing  with  a  Glass  Rod  —  Tracing  Writing  Under  Paper  —  Writing  With 
Glass  Tubes  Instead  of  Pens  —  What  Physical  Examination  Reveals  —  Erasing 
Substance  of  Paper  —  Reproducing  Pencil  Writing  in  a  Letter  Press  —  Kind 
of  Paper  to  Use  in  Making  Experiments  —  Detecting  Fraud  in  Old  Papers  — 
The  Rubbing  and  Writing  Method  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  zig 


CHAPTER   XXI 
FORGERY   AS   A   PROFESSION 

How  Professional  Forgers  Work  —  Valuable  Points  for  Bankers  and  Business  Men 

—  Personnel  of  a  Professional  Forgery  Gang  —  The  Scratcher,  Layer-down, 
Presenter  and  Middleman  —  How  Banks  Are  Defrauded  by  Raised  and  Forged 
Paper  —  Detailed  Method  of  the  Work  —  Dividing  the  Spoils  —  Action  in  Case 
of  Arrest  —  Employing  Attorneys  —  What  "  Fall "  Money  Is  —  Fixing  a  Jury 

—  Politicians  with  a  Pull  —  Protecting  Criminals  —  Full  Description  of  How 
Checks   and   Drafts   Are    Altered  —  Alterations,    Erasures   and   Chemicals  — 
Raising    Any    Paper  —  Alert    Cashiers    and    Tellers  —  Different    Methods    of 
Protection  -------        -----r        227 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XXII 
A   FAMOUS   FORGERY 

The  Morey-Garfield  Letter  —  Attempt  to  Defeat  Mr.  Garfield  for  the  Presidency  — 
A  Clumsy  Forgery  —  Both  Letters  Reproduced  —  Evidences  of  Forgery 
Pointed  Out  —  The  Work  of  an  Illiterate  Man  —  Crude  Imitations  Apparent 
—  Undoubtedly  the  Greatest  Forgery  of  the  Age  —  General  Garfield's  Quick 
Disclaimer  Kills  Effect  of  the  Forgery  —  The  Letters  Compared  and  Evidences 
of  Forgery  Made  Complete  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  ".•  *43 

CHAPTER   XXIII 
A   WARNING   TO   BANKS  AND   BUSINESS   HOUSES 

Information  for  Those  Who  Handle  Commercial  and  Legal  Documents  —  Pecul- 
iarity of  Handwriting  —  Methods  Employed  in  Forgery  —  Means  Employed 
for  Erasing  Writing  —  Care  to  Be  Used  in  Writing  —  Specimens  of  Originals 
and  Alterations  —  Means  of  Discovering  and  Demonstrating  Forgery  —  Dis- 
puted Signatures  —  Free  Hand  or  Composite  Signatures  —  Important  Facts 
for  the  Banking  and  Business  Public  —  How  to  Use  the  Microscope  and  Photog- 
raphy to  Detect  Forgery  —  Applying  Chemical  Tests  —  How  to  Handle  Docu- 
ments and  Papers  to  Be  Preserved  —  The  Value  of  Expert  Testimony  —  Using 
Chemical,  Mechanical  and  Clerical  Preventatives  -  ...  253 

CHAPTER   XXIV 
HOW   FORGERS   ALTER   BANK    NOTES 

Bankers  Easily  Deceived  —  How  Ten  One  Hundred  Dollar  Bills  Are  Made  out  of 
Nine  —  How  to  Detect  Altered  Bank  Notes  —  Making  a  Ten-Dollar  Bill  out  of 
a  Five  —  A  Ten  Raised  to  Fifty  —  How  Two-Dollar  Bills  are  Raised  to  a 
Higher  Denomination  —  Bogus  Money  in  Commercial  Colleges  —  Action  of  the 
United  States  Treasury  Department  —  Engraving  a  Greenback  —  How  They 
Are  Printed  —  Making  a  Vignette  —  Beyond  the  Reach  of  Rascals  —  How 
Bank  Notes  Are  Printed,  Signed  and  Issued  by  the  Government  —  Safeguards 
to  Foil  Forgers,  Counterfeiters  and  Alterers  of  Bank  Notes  —  Devices  to  Raise 
Genuine  Bank  Notes  —  Split  Notes  —  Altering  Silver  Certificates  -  265 


APPENDIX 

This  follows  with  many  pages  of  Illustrations  and  Descriptions  of  Various 
Kinds  of  Genuine,  Traced,  Forged  and  Simulated  Writings  and  Autograph 
Signatures  of  Bankers,  Statesmen,  Jurists,  Authors,  Writers  and  the  Leading 
Public  Characters  of  the  World;  Individual  Autographs  of  Every  President 
of  the  United  States ;  Freak  Signatures  and  Curious  and  Complicated  Writing; 
and  Scores  of  Other  Interesting  and  Instructive  Autographs  and  Writings  of 
Various  Kinds  That  Will  Prove  of  Great  Worth  and  Value  -  -  -  273 

xiii 


PREFACE 

But  few  writers  in  the  United  States  have  expended 
their  genius  in  the  field  of  disputed,  forged,  or  fraudulent 
handwriting.  In  France  and  Germany  the  subject  has 
been  more  studied,  and  in  both  languages  several  valu- 
able books  have  appeared,  while  in  this  country  it  is 
only  recently  that  disputed  handwriting  has  been 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  sciences. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  publication  of  this  work  noth- 
ing has  appeared  in  the  United  States  on  the  subject  of 
disputed  handwriting,  short  magazine  and  newspaper 
articles  sufficing. 

Interest  in  disputed  handwriting  and  writing  of 
all  kinds  is  being  rapidly  developed,  and  is  a  study 
and  research  with  which  the  banker  and  business  man 
of  the  future  must  and  will  be  perfectly  familiar.  A 
place  will  be  made  for  the  science  among  the  perma- 
nent, necessary,  and  most  helpful  studies  of  the  day. 

No  effort  has  been  spared  by  the  author  of  this 
work  to  make  every  feature  of  handwriting  accurate. 
This  work  is  the  result  of  years  of  practical  study  in 
the  field  of  disputed  handwriting,  and  personal  applica- 
tion has  demonstrated  that  the  facts  and  suggestions 
given  will  be  found  absolutely  correct.  The  aim  has 
been  to  make  this  the  standard  work  on  this  subject. 


XV 


PREFACE 

In  conclusion,  the  author  wishes  to  acknowledge 
a  debt  to  the  leading  handwriting  experts  of  the 
United  States  and  Europe  for  many  suggestions  that 
have  materially  assisted  him  in  the  preparation  of 
this  work.  We  trust  it  will  prove  a  material  aid  to 
the  bankers,  business  men  and  professional  men  of  the 
United  States.  THE  AUTHOR. 


XVI 


I 

How  to  Study  Forged  and  Disputed 
Signatures 


DISPUTED    HANDWRITING 


CHAPTER   I 

HOW   TO   STUDY   FORGED   AND    DISPUTED 
SIGNATURES 

All  Titles  Depend  Upon  the  Genuineness  of  Signatures  —  Com- 
paring Genuine  With  Disputed  Signatures  —  A  Word  About 
Fac-simile  Signatures  —  Conditions  Affecting  Production  of 
Signatures  —  Process  of  Evolving  a  Signature  —  Evidence  of 
Experience  in  Handling  or  Mishandling  a  Pen  —  Signatures 
Most  Difficult  to  Read  —  Simulation  of  Signature  by  Expert 
Penman  —  Hard  to  Imitate  an  Untrained  Hand  —  A  Well- 
known  Banker  Presents  Some  Valuable  Points  —  Perfectly 
Imitated  Writings  and  Signatures  —  Bunglingly  Executed  For- 
geries —  The  Application  of  Chemical  Tests  —  Rules  of  Courts 
on  Disputed  Signatures  —  Forgers  Giving  Appearance  of  Age 
to  Paper  and  Ink  —  Proving  the  Falsity  of  Testimony  —  Deter- 
mining the  Genuineness  or  Falsity  by  Anatomy  or  Skeleton  — 
Making  a  Magnified  Copy  of  a  Signature  —  Effectiveness  of  the 
Photograph  Process  —  Deception  the  Eye  Will  Not  Detect  — 
When  Pen  Strokes  Cross  Each  Other  —  Experimenting  With 
Crossed  Lines  —  Signatures  Written  With  Different  Inks  — 
Deciding  Order  of  Sequence  in  Writing  —  An  Important  and 
Interesting  Subject  for  Bankers  —  Determining  the  Genuineness 
of  a  Written  Document  —  Ingenuity  of  Rogues  Constantly 
Takes  New  Forms  —  A  Systematic  Analysis  Will  Detect  Dis- 
puted Signatures.1 

The  title  to  money  and  property  of  all  kinds  depends 
so  largely  upon  the  genuineness  of  signatures  that  no 
study  or  inquiry  can  be  more  interesting  than  one 
relating  to  the  degree  of  certainty  with  which  genuine 

1Note  illustrations  of  various  kinds  of  forged,  simulated,  and 
genuine  handwriting  in  Appendix,  with  careful  descriptions  of  same. 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

writings  can  be  distinguished  from  those  which  are 
counterfeited. 

When  comparing  a  disputed  signature  with  a  series 
of  admittedly  genuine  signatures  of  the  same  person 
whose  signature  is  being  disputed,  the  general  appear- 
ance and  pictorial  effect  of  the  writing  will  suggest,  as 
the  measure  of  resemblances  or  differences  predom- 
inates, an  impression  upon  the  mind  of  the  examiner 
as  to  the  genuine  or  forged  character  of  the  signature 
in  question.  When  it  is  understood  that  to  make  a 
forgery  available  for  the  purposes  of  its  production 
it  must  resemble  in  general  appearance  the  writing  of 
the  person  whose  signature  it  purports  to  represent, 
it  follows  as  a  reasonable  conclusion  that  resemblances 
in  general  appearances  alone  must  be  secondary 
factors  in  establishing  the  genuineness  of  a  signature 
by  comparison  —  and  the  fact  that  two  signatures 
look  alike  is  not  always  evidence  that  they  were 
written  by  the  same  person. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  uncertainty  of  an  impres- 
sion produced  by  the  general  appearances  and  close 
resemblance  of  signatures,  even  to  an  expert  observer, 
is  manifested  when  the  fac-simile  signatures  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence, 
as  executed  by  different  engravers,  are  examined. 
On  comparing  each  individual  fac-simile  made  by  one 
engraver,  with  the  fac-simile  of  the  same  signature 
made  by  another  engraver,  they  will  be  found  to 
exactly  coincide  in  general  appearance  as  to  form  and 
pictorial  effect,  and  so  much  so,  that  the  fac-similes 
of  the  same  signature  made  by  different  engravers 
cannot  be  told  one  from  the  other.  On  examining 
them  by  the  use  of  the  microscope  they  may  be  easily 

4 


FORGED  AND   DISPUTED  SIGNATURES 

determined  as  the  work  of  different  persons.  While 
this  is  likewise  true  of  the  resemblances  in  general 
appearance  which  a  disputed  signature  may  have 
when  compared  with  a  genuine  signature  of  the  same 
person,  it  is  also  true  that  the  measure  of  difference 
occurring  in  the  general  appearance  of  a  disputed 
signature,  when  compared  with  genuine  ones  of  the 
same  person,  are  not  always  evidence  of  forgery. 

There  are  many  conditions  affecting  the  production 
of  signatures,  habitually  and  uniformly  apart  from 
the  causes  which  prevent  a  person  from  writing  signa- 
tures twice  precisely  alike,  under  the  influence  of 
normal  conditions  of  execution.  The  effect  of  fatigue, 
excitement,  haste,  or  the  use  of  a  different  pen  from 
that  with  which  the  standards  were  written,  are  well 
known  conditions  operating  to  materially  affect  the 
general  appearance  of  the  writing,  and  may  have  been, 
in  one  form  or  another,  an  attendant  cause  when  the 
questioned  signature  was  produced,  and  thus  have 
given  to  the  latter  some  variation  from  the  signatures 
of  the  same  person,  executed  under  the  influence  of 
normal  surroundings. 

In  the  process  of  evolving  a  signature,  which  must 
be  again  and  again  repeated  from  an  early  age  till 
death,  new  ideas  occur  from  time  to  time,  are  tried, 
modified,  improved,  and  finally  embodied  in  the  design. 
The  idea  finally  worked  out  may  be  merely  a  short 
method  of  writing  the  necessary  sequence  of  characters, 
or  it  may  present  some  novelty  to  the  eye.  Signatures 
consisting  almost  exclusively  of  straight  up-and-down 
strokes,  looking  at  a  short  distance  like  a  row  of  needles 
with  very  light  hair-lines  to  indicate  the  separate 
letters;  signatures  begun  at  the  beginning  or  the  end 

5 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

and  written  without  removing  the  pen  from  the  paper ; 
signatures  which  are  entirely  illegible  and  whose  com- 
ponent parts  convey  only  the  mutilated  rudiments 
of  letters,  are  not  uncommon.  All  such  signatures 
strike  the  eye  and  arrest  the  attention,  and  thus  ac- 
complish the  object  of  their  authors.  The  French 
signature  frequently  runs  upward  from  left  to  right, 
ending  with  a  strong  down  flourish  in  the  opposite 
direction.  All  these,  even  the  most  illegible  examples, 
give  evidence  of  experience  in  handling  or  mishandling 
the  pen.  The  signature  most  difficult  to  read  is  fre- 
quently the  production  of  the  hand  which  writes  most 
frequently,  and  it  is  very  much  harder  to  decipher 
than  the  worst  specimens  of  an  untrained  hand.  The 
characteristics  of  the  latter  are  usually  an  evident 
painstaking  desire  to  imitate  faulty  ideals  of  the  letters 
one  after  the  other,  without  any  attempt  to  attain  a 
particular  effect  by  the  signature  as  a  whole.  In  very 
extreme  cases,  the  separate  letters  of  the  words  consti- 
tuting the  signature  are  not  even  joined  together. 

A  simulation  of  such  a  signature  by  an  expert  pen- 
man will  usually  leave  enough  traces  of  his  ability  in 
handling  the  pen  to  pierce  his  disguise.  Even  a  short, 
straight  stroke,  into  which  he  is  likely  to  relapse  against 
his  will,  gives  evidence  against  the  pretended  difficulties 
of  the  act  which  he  intends  to  convey.  It  is  nearly  as 
difficult  for  a  master  of  the  pen  to  imitate  an  untrained 
hand  as  for  the  untrained  hand  to  write  like  an  expert 
penman.  The  difference  between  an  untrained  sig- 
nature and  the  trembling  tracing  of  his  signature  by  an 
experienced  writer  who  is  ill  or  feeble,  is  that  in  the 
former  may  be  seen  abundant  instances  of  ill-directed 
strength,  and  in  the  latter  equally  abundant  instances 

6 


FORGED  AND  DISPUTED  SIGNATURES 

of  well-conceived  design,  with  a  failure  of  the  power  to 
execute  it. 

Observations  such  as  the  preceding  are  frequently 
of  great  value  in  aiding  the  expert  to  understand  the 
phenomena  which  he  meets,  and  they  belong  to  a 
class  which  does  not  require  the  application  of  stand- 
ards of  measure,  but  only  experience  and  memory  of 
other  similar  instances  of  which  the  history  was  known, 
and  a  sound  judgment  to  discern  the  significance  of 
what  is  seen. 

No  general  rules  other  than  those  referred  to  above 
can  be  given  to  guide  the  student  of  handwriting  in 
such  cases,  but  the  differences  will  become  sufficiently 
apparent  with  sufficient  practice. 

A  well-known  banker,  writing  to  the  author  of  this 
work,  makes  some  points  on  the  subject  which  are 
rather  disturbing.  His  fundamental  proposition  is 
that  the  judgment  of  experts  is  of  no  value  when 
based  as  it  ordinarily  is,  only  upon  an  inspection  of  an 
alleged  fraudulent  signature,  either  with  the  naked 
eye  or  with  the  eye  aided  by  magnifying  glasses,  and 
upon  a  comparison  of  its  appearance  with  that  of  a 
writing  or  signature,  admitted  or  known  to  the  expert, 
to  be  genuine,  of  the  same  party. 

He  alleges,  in  fact,  that  writing  and  signatures  can 
be  so  perfectly  imitated  that  ocular  inspection  cannot 
determine  which  is  true  and  which  is  false,  and  that  the 
persons  whose  signatures  are  in  controversy  are 
quite  as  unable  as  anybody  to  decide  that  question. 
Nevertheless,  the  law  permits  experts  to  give  their 
opinions  to  juries,  who  often  have  nothing  except  those 
opinions  to  control  their  decisions,  and  who  naturally 
give  them  in  favor  of  the  side  which  is  supported  by 

7 


DISPUTED   HANDWRITING 

*the  greatest  number  of  experts,  or  by  experts  of  the 
highest  repute. 

Decisions  upon  such  testimony  this  banker  regards 
as  no  better  than,  if  quite  as  good  as,  the  result  of 
drawing  lots.  Of  course  he  cannot  mean  to  include 
under  these  observations,  that  class  of  forgeries  which 
are  so  bunglingly  executed  as  to  be  readily  detected 
by  the  eye,  even  of  persons  not  specially  expert.  Re 
can  only  mean  to  say  that  imitations  are  possible  and 
even  common,  which  are  so  exact  that  their  coun- 
terfeit character  is  not  determinable  by  inspection, 
even  when  aided  by  glasses. 

At  first  blush  this  contention  of  the  banker  is  ex- 
tremely a  most  unsatisfactory  view  of  the  case,  and 
the  more  correct  it  looks  likely  to  be,  the  more  unsatis- 
factory. Courts  may  go  beyond  inspection  and  apply 
chemical  on  the  tests,  but  such  tests  cannot  be  resorted 
to  in  the  innumerable  cases  of  checks  and  orders  for 
money  and  property  which  are  passed  upon  every 
day  in  the  business  world,  and  either  accepted  as 
genuine  or  rejected  as  counterfeit.  But  the  real 
truth  is,  in  fully  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred, 
that  no  check  or  order  is  paid  merely  upon  confidence 
in  the  genuineness  of  the  signature,  and  without 
knowledge  of  the  party  to  whom  the  payment  is  made, 
or  some  accompanying  circumstance  or  circumstances 
tending  to  inspire  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  the 
transaction.  In  that  aspect,  the  danger  of  deception 
as  to  the  genuineness  of  signatures  loses  most  of  its 
terrors. 

It  is  one  of  the  recognized  rules  of  court  to  admit  as 
admissible  testimony,  the  opinions  of  experts,  whether 
the  whole  or  any  specified  portion  of  an  instrument 

8 


FORGED  AND   DISPUTED   SIGNATURES 

was,  or  was  not  written  by  the  same  hand,  with  the 
same  ink,  and  at  the  same  time,  which  question  arises 
when  an  addition  to,  or  alteration  of,  an  instrument 
is  charged.  It  must  be  recollected  that  at  this  time 
it  is  a  very  easy  matter  for  experienced  forgers  and 
rascals  to  so  prepare  ink  that  it  may  appear  to  the  eye 
to  be  of  the  age  required,  and  it  is  next  to  impossible 
for  any  expert  to  give  any  information  in  regard  to  the 
age  of  a  certain  writing.  In  many  instances  experts 
have  easily  detected  the  kind  of  ink  employed,  and 
have  also  successfully  shown  the  falsity  of  testimony 
that  the  whole  of  a  writing  in  controversy  was  executed 
at  the  same  time,  and  with  the  same  ink. 

James  D.  Peacock,  a  London  barrister,  who  has 
given  considerable  time  and  study  to  disputed  hand- 
writings, lays  great  stress  upon  the  ability  of  deter- 
mining the  genuineness  or  falsity  of  a  writing  by  what 
he  calls  its  "anatomy"  or  "skeleton."  He  says  that 
some  persons  in  making  successive  strokes,  make  the 
turn  from  one  to  another  sharply  angular,  while  others 
make  it  rounded  or  looping.  Writings  produced  in 
both  ways  appear  the  same  to  the  eye,  but  under  a 
magnifying  glass  the  difference  in  the  mode  of  execu- 
ting is  shown.  As  illustrating  that  point,  he  makes 
the  following  statement  in  respect  to  a  case  involving 
the  genuineness  of  the  alleged  signature  of  an  old  man 
whose  handwriting  was  fine  and  tremulous: 

"On  making  a  magnified  copy  of  the  signature,  I 
found  that  the  tremulous  appearance  of  the  letters 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  made  up  of  a  series 
of  dashes,  standing  at  varying  angles  with  each  other, 
and  further,  that  these  strokes,  thus  enlarged,  were  pre- 
cisely like  these  constituting  the  letters  in  the  body  of 

9 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

the  note,  which  were  acknowledged  to  have  been 
written  by  the  alleged  forger  of  the  note.  Upon  the 
introduction  of  this  testimony  the  criminal  withdrew 
the  plea  of  not  guilty  and  implored  the  mercy  of  the 
court." 

As  one  means  of  determining  whether  the  whole  of  a 
writing  was  executed  at  the  same  time,  and  with  the 
same  ink,  or  at  different  times,  and  with  different  inks, 
Mr.  Peacock  further  says  that  the  photographic 
process  is  very  effective  because  it  not  only  copies 
the  forms  of  letters  but  takes  notice  of  differences  in 
the  color  of  two  inks  which  are  inappreciable  by  the 
eye.  He  states  that: 

"Where  there  is  the  least  particle  of  yellow  present 
in  a  color,  the  photograph  will  take  notice  of  the  fact 
by  making  the  picture  blacker,  just  in  proportion 
as  the  yellow  predominates,  so  that  a  very  light  yellow 
will  take  a  deep  black.  So  any  shade  of  green,  or  blue, 
or  red,  where  there  is  an  imperceptible  amount  of 
yellow,  will  pink  by  the  photographic  process  more  or 
less  black,  while  either  a  red  or  blue  varying  to  a 
purple,  will  show  more  or  less  paint  as  the  case  may 
be." 

As  to  deception  which  the  eye  will  not  detect,  in 
regard  to  the  age  of  paper,  he  says: 

"I  have  repeatedly  examined  papers  which  have 
been  made  to  appear  old  by  various  methods,  such  as 
washing  with  coffee,  with  tobacco,  and  by  being  carried 
in  the  pocket,  near  the  person,  by  being  smoked  or 
partially  burned,  and  in  various  other  ways.  I  have 
in  my  possession  a  paper  which  has  passed  the  ordeal 
of  many  examinations  by  experts  and  others,  which 
purports  to  be  two  hundred  years  old,  and  to  have 

10 


FORGED  AND   DISPUTED  SIGNATURES 

been  saved  from  the  Boston  fire.  The  handwriting 
is  a  perfect  fac-simile  of  that  of  Thomas  Addington, 
the  town  clerk  of  Boston,  two  hundred  years  ago,  and 
yet  the  paper  is  not  over  two  years  old." 

The  most  remarkable  case  of  deception  to  the  eye, 
even  when  aided  by  magnifying  glasses,  is  in  deter- 
mining when  two  pen  strokes  cross  each  other,  which 
stroke  was  made  first.  Mr.  Peacock  does  not  explain 
how  the  deception  is  possible,  but  that  it  occurs  as 
matter  of  fact,  he  shows  by  an  account  of  a  very  de- 
cisive experiment.  Taking  ten  different  kinds  of  ink, 
most  commonly  on  sale,  he  drew  lines  on  a  piece  of 
paper  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  a  hundred  points  of 
crossing  and  so  that  a  line  drawn  with  each  of  ink 
passed  both  over  and  under  all  the  lines  drawn  with 
the  other  inks.  He,  of  course,  knew,  in  respect  to  each 
point  of  crossing,  which  ink  was  first  applied,  but  the 
appearance  to  the  eye  corresponded  with  the  fact  in 
only  forty-three  cases.  In  thirty-seven  cases  the 
appearance  was  contrary  to  the  fact,  and  in  the  re- 
maining cases  the  eye  was  unable  to  come  to  any 
decision. 

By  wetting  another  piece  of  paper  with  a  liquid 
compound  acting  as  a  solvent  of  ink,  and  pressing  it 
upon  the  paper  marked  with  lines,  a  thin  layer  of 
ink  was  transferred  to  the  wet  paper,  and  that  shown 
correctly  which  was  the  superposed  ink  at  every  one 
of  the  one  hundred  points  of  crossing. 

Many  cases  have  occurred,  in  signatures  written 
with  different  inks,  where  some  letters  in  one  cross, 
some  letters  in  another,  in  which  it  becomes  important 
to  decide  the  order  of  sequence  in  writing.  It  is  also 
frequently  important  to  decide  the  order  of  sequence 

ii 


DISPUTED   HANDWRITING 

in  writing.  It  is  also  frequently  important  when  the 
genuineness  of  an  addition,  as  of  a  date,  is  the  thing 
in  dispute. 

No  subject  can  be  more  important  or  interesting  to 
the  business  public  or  especially  to  bankers  than  that 
of  the  reliability  of  the  lists  of  the  genuineness  of 
written  papers.  While  it  is  true  that  in  most  cases 
there  is  some  ear-mark  beside  the  appearance  of  a 
signature,  whereby  to  determine  the  genuineness  of 
a  document,  it  is  also  true  that  in  many  cases,  and 
frequently  in  cases  of  great  magnitude,  payments  are 
made  on  no  other  basis  than  the  appearance  of  a 
writing.  The  most  common  class  of  these  last  cases 
is  where  "A"  has  been  long  known  to  be  an  endorser 
for  "B,"  and  where  the  connection  between  the  two, 
which  leads  to  the  endorsements,  is  well  known.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  appearance  in  the  market  of  a  note  of 
"B"  endorsed  by  "A,"  that  is,  in  any  degree  calcu- 
lated to  excite  suspicion  or  to  put  a  prospective  pur- 
chaser upon  his  inquiry.  If  the  endorsement  of  "A" 
resembles  his  usual  handwriting,  it  is  almost  always 
accepted  as  genuine  and  if  losses  result  from  its  proving 
to  be  counterfeit,  they  are  set  down  to  the  score,  not 
of  imprudence,  but  of  unavoidable  misfortune. 

Thus,  as  the  ingenuity  of  rogues  constantly  takes 
new  forms,  the  ways  and  means  by  which  they  can  be 
baffled  in  these  enterprises  are  constantly  being  mul- 
tiplied. The  telegraph  and  telephone  give  facilities 
for  promptly  verifying  a  signature  where  one  is  in 
doubt. 

It  happens  not  infreqently  that  the  desire  to  get 
a  given  number  of  words  into  a  definite  space  leads 
to  an  entirely  unusual  and  foreign  style  of  writing,  in 

12 


which  the  accustomed  characteristics  are  so  obscured 
or  changed  that  only  a  systematic  analysis  can  detect 
them.  If  there  be  no  apparent  reason  for  this  ap- 
pearance in  lack  of  space,  the  cause  may  be  the  phy- 
sical state  of  the  writer  or  an  attempt  at  simulation. 
If  a  sufficient  number  of  genuine  signatures  are  avail- 
able, it  can  generally  be  determined  which  of  these 
two  explanations  is  the  right  one. 

Note  illustrations  of  various  kinds  of  handwriting 
in  Appendix  at  end  of  this  book.  Particular  attention 
is  directed  to  the  descriptions  and  analysis.  They 
should  be  studied  carefully. 


II 

Forgery  by  Tracing 


CHAPTER   II 
FORGERY  BY  TRACING 

Forgeries  Perpetrated  by  the  Aid  of  Tracing  a  Common  and  Dan- 
gerous Method  —  Using  Transparent  Tracing  Paper  —  How 
the  Movements  are  Directed— Formal,  Broken  and  Nervous  Lines 
— Retouched  Lines  and  Shades  —  Tracing  Usually  Presents  a 
Close  Resemblance  to  the  Genuine  —  Traced  Forgeries  Not 
Exact  Duplicates  of  Their  Originals  —  The  Danger  of  an  Exact 
Duplication  —  Forgers  Usually  Unable  to  Exactly  Reproduce 
Tracing  —  Using  Pencil  or  Carbon-Guided  Lines  —  Retouching 
Revealed  under  the  Microscope  —  Tracing  with  Pen  and  Ink 
Over  a  Transparency  —  Making  a  Practice  and  Study  of  Signa- 
tures —  Forgeries  and  Tracings  Made  by  Skilful  Imitators  Most 
Difficult  of  Detection  —  Free-Hand  Forgery  and  Tracing  —  A 
Few  Important  Matters  to  Observe  in  Detecting  Forgery  by 
Tracing —  Photographs  a  Great  Aid  in  Detecting  Tracing  —  How 
to  Compare  Imitated  and  Traced  Writing  —  Furrows  Traced 
by  Pen  Nibs  —  Tracing  Made  by  an  Untrained  Hand  —  Tracing 
with  Pen  and  Ink  Over  a  Transparency  —  Internal  Evidence 
of  Forgery  by  Tracing  —  Forgeries  Made  by  Skilful  Imitators 
—  How  to  Determine  Evidences  of  Forgery  by  Tracing  — 
Remains  of  Tracings  —  Examining  Paper  in  Transmitted  Light  — 
Freely  Written  Tracings  —  A  Dangerous  Method  of  Forgery. 

Forgery  by  tracing  is  one  of  the  most  common  and 
most  dangerous  methods  of  forgery. 

There  are  two  general  methods  of  perpetrating  for- 
geries, one  by  the  aid  of  tracing,  the  other  by  free-hand 
writing.  These  methods  differ  widely  in  details,  ac- 
cording to  the  circumstances  of  each  case. 

Tracing  can  only  be  employed  when  a  signature  or 
writing  is  present  in  the  exact  or  approximate  form  of 
the  desired  reproduction.  It  may  then  be  done  by  plac- 
ing the  writing  to  be  forged  upon  a  transparency  over 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

a  strong  light,  and  then  superimposing  the  paper  upon 
which  the  forgery  is  to  be  made.  The  outline  of  the 
writing  underneath  will  then  appear  sufficiently  plain 
to  enable  it  to  be  traced  with  pen  or  pencil,  so  as  to 
produce  a  very  accurate  copy  upon  the  superimposed 
paper.  If  the  outline  is  with  a  pencil,  it  is  afterward 
marked  over  with  ink. 

Again,  tracings  are  made  by  placing  transparent 
tracing-paper  over  the  writing  to  be  copied  and  then 
tracing  the  lines  over  with  a  pencil.  This  tracing 
is  then  penciled  or  blackened  upon  the  obverse  side. 
When  it  is  placed  upon  the  paper  on  which  the  forgery 
is  made,  the  lines  upon  the  tracing  are  retraced  with  a 
stylus  or  other  smooth  hard  point,  which  impresses 
upon  the  paper  underneath  a  faint  outline,  which 
serves  as  a  guide  to  the  forged  imitation. 

In  forgeries  perpetrated  by  the  aid  of  tracing,  the 
internal  evidence  is  more  or  less  conclusive  according 
to  the  skill  of  the  forger.  In  the  perpetration  of  a 
forgery  the  mind,  instead  of  being  occupied  in  the 
usual  function  of  supplying  matter  to  be  recorded,  de- 
votes its  special  attention  to  superintendence  of  the 
hand,  directing  its  movements,  so  that  the  hand  no 
longer  glides  naturally  and  automatically  over  the 
paper,  but  moves  slowly  with  a  halting,  vacillating 
motion,  as  the  eye  passes  to  and  from  the  copy  to  the 
pen,  moving  under  the  specific  control  of  the  will. 
Evidence  of  such  a  forgery  is  manifest  in  the  formal, 
broken,  nervous  lines,  the  uneven  flow  of  the  ink,  and 
the  often  retouched  lines  and  shades.  These  evidences 
are  unmistakable  when  studied  with  the  aid  of  a  micro- 
scope. Also,  further  evidence  is  adduced  by  a  care- 
ful comparison  of  the  disputed  writing,  noting  the 

18 


FORGERY  BY  TRACING 

pen-pressure  or  absence  of  any  of  the  delicate  uncon- 
scious forms,  relations,  shades,  etc.,  characteristic  of 
the  standard  writing. 

Forgeries  by  tracings  usually  present  a  close  re- 
semblance in  general  form  to  the  genuine,  and  are 
therefore  most  sure  to  deceive  the  unfamiliar  or  casual 
observer.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  original  writ- 
ing from  which  the  tracings  were  made  is  discovered, 
in  which  case  the  closely  duplicated  forms  will  be 
positive  evidence  of  forgery.  The  degree  to  which  one 
signature  of  writing  duplicates  another  may  be  readily 
seen  by  placing  one  over  the  other,  and  holding  them 
to  a  window  or  other  strong  light,  or  by  close  compara- 
tive measurements. 

Traced  forgeries,  however,  are  not,  as  is  usually  sup- 
posed, necessarily  exact  duplicates  of  their  originals, 
since  it  is  very  easy  to  move  the  paper  by  accident  or 
design  while  the  tracing  is  being  made,  or  while  making 
the  transfer  copy  from  it ;  so  that  while  it  serves  as  a 
guide  to  the  general  features  of  the  original,  it  will  not, 
when  tested,  be  an  exact  duplication.  The  danger  of 
an  exact  duplication  is  quite  generally  understood  by 
persons  having  any  knowledge  of  forgery,  and  is  there- 
fore avoided.  Another  difficulty  is  that  the  very  del- 
icate features  of  the  original  writing  are  more  or  less 
obscured  by  the  opaqueness  of  two  sheets  of  paper,  and 
are  therefore  changed  or  omitted  from  the  forged  sim- 
ulation, and  their  absence  is  usually  supplied,  through 
force  of  habit,  by  equally  delicate  unconscious  charac- 
teristics from  the  writing  of  the  forger.  Again,  the 
forger  rarely  possesses  the  requisite  skill  to  exactly  re- 
produce his  tracing.  Much  of  the  minutiae  of  the 
original  writing  is  more  or  less  microscopic,  and  from 

19 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

that  reason  passes  unobserved  by  the  forger.  Outlines 
of  writing  to  be  forged  are  sometimes  simply  drawn 
with  a  pencil,  and  then  worked  up  in  ink.  Such  out- 
lines will  not  usually  furnish  so  good  an  imitation  as 
to  form,  since  they  depend  wholly  upon  the  imitative 
skill  of  the  forger. 

Besides  the  forementioned  evidences  of  forgery  by 
tracing,  where  pencil  or  carbon  guide-lines  are  used 
which  must  necessarily  be  removed  by  rubber,  there 
are  liable  to  remain  some  slight  fragments  of  the  trac- 
ing lines,  while  the  mill  finish  of  the  paper  will  be 
impaired  and  its  fiber  more  or  less  torn  out,  so  as  to  lie 
loose  upon  the  surface.  Also  the  ink  will  be  more  or 
less  ground  off  from  the  paper,  thus  giving  the  lines  a 
gray  and  lifeless  appearance.  And  as  retouchings  are 
usually  made  after  the  guide-lines  have  been  removed, 
the  ink,  wherever  they  occur,  will  have  a  more  black 
and  fresh  appearance  than  elsewhere.  All  these  phe- 
nomena are  plainly  manifest  under  the  microscope. 
Where  the  tracing  is  made  directly  with  pen  and  ink 
over  a  transparency,  as  is  often  done,  no  rubbing  is 
necessary,  and  of  course,  the  phenomena  from  rubber- 
ing does  not  appear. 

Where  signatures  or  other  writings  have  been  forged 
by  previously  making  a  study  and  practice  of  the  writ- 
ing, to  be  copied  until  it  has  been  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  idealized,  the  hand  must  be  trained  to  its 
imitation  so  that  it  can  be  written  with  a  more  or  less 
approximation  as  to  form  and  natural  freedom. 

Forgeries  and  tracings  made  by  skilful  imitators 
are  the  most  difficult  of  detection,  as  the  internal 
evidence  of  forgery  by  tracing  is  mostly  absent.  The 
evidence  of  free-hand  forgery  and  tracing  is  chiefly  in 

20 


FORGERY  BY  TRACING 

the  greater  liability  of  the  forger  to  inject  into  the  writ- 
ing his  own  unconscious  habit  and  to  fail  to  reproduce 
with  sufficient  accuracy  that  of  the  original  writing, 
so  that  when  subjected  to  rigid  analysis  and  micro- 
scopic inspection,  the  spuriousness  is  made  manifest 
and  demonstrable.  Specific  attention  should  be  given 
to  any  hesitancy  in  form  or  movement  in  tracing  which 
is  manifest  in  angularity  or  change  of  direction  of 
lines,  changed  relations  and  proportions  of  letters,  slant 
of  the  writing,  its  mechanical  arrangement,  disconnected 
lines,  retouched  shades,  etc. 

Photographs,  greatly  enlarged,  of  both  the  signatures 
in  question  and  the  exemplars  placed  side  by  side  for 
comparison  will  greatly  aid  in  making  plain  any  evi- 
dence of  forgery. 

If  practicable,  use  for  comparison  as  standards  both 
the  imitated  writing  and  that  of  the  imitator's  traced 
writing.  These  methods,  employed  by  skilled  and 
experienced  examiners,  will  rarely  fail  of  establishing 
the  true  relationship  between  any  two  disputed  hand- 
writings and  more  especially  where  the  question  of  a 
forged  or  traced  signature  is  under  discussion. 

Under  the  microscope  tracing  by  the  pen-nibs  are 
usually  easily  visible,  and  they  differ  with  every  variety 
of  pen  employed.  A  stiff,  fine-pointed  pen  makes  two 
comparatively  deep  lines  a  short  distance  apart,  which 
appear  blacker  in  the  writing  than  the  space  between 
them,  because  they  fill  with  ink,  which  afterwards  dries 
and  produces  a  thicker  layer  of  black  sediment  than 
those  elsewhere.  The  variations  of  pressure  upon  the 
pen  can  be  easily  noticed  by  the  alternate  widening  and 
narrowing  of  the  band  between  these  two  furrows. 
The  tracing  appears  knotty  and  uneven  when  made 

21 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

by  an  untrained  hand,  while  it  appears  uniformly  thin, 
and  generally  tremulous  or  in  zigzags  when  made  by  a 
weak  but  trained  hand. 

Where  the  tracing  is  made  directly  with  pen  and  ink 
over  a  transparency,  as  is  often  done,  no  rubbing  is 
necessary,  and  of  course  the  phenomena  from  rubber- 
ing do  not  appear. 

Where  signatures  or  other  writings  have  been  forged 
by  previously  making  a  study  and  practice  of  the  writ- 
ing to  be  copied  until  it  has  been  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  idealized,  the  hand  must  be  trained  to  its 
imitation  so  that  it  can  be  written  with  a  more 
or  less  approximation  as  to  form  and  with  natural 
freedom. 

Forgeries  thus  made  by  skilful  imitators  are  the 
most  difficult  of  detection,  as  the  internal  evidence  of 
forgery  by  tracing  is  mostly  absent.  The  evidence 
of  free-hand  forgery  is  chiefly  in  the  greater  liability  of 
the  forger  to  inject  into  the  writing  his  own  unconscious 
habit,  and  to  fail  to  reproduce  with  sufficient  accuracy 
that  of  the  original  writing,  so  that  when  subjected 
to  rigid  analysis  and  microscopic  inspection,  the  spu- 
riousness  is  made  manifest  and  demonstrable.  Spe- 
cific attention  should  be  given  to  any  hesitancy  in 
form  or  movement,  manifest  in  angularity  or  change 
of  direction  of  lines,  changed  relations  and  proportions 
of  letters,  slant  of  the  writing,  its  mechanical  arrange- 
ment, disconnected  lines,  retouched  shades,  etc. 

Photographs,  greatly  enlarged,  of  both  the  signatures 
in  question  and  the  exemplars  placed  side  by  side  for 
comparison  will  greatly  aid  in  making  plain  any  evi- 
dences of  forgery  by  tracing. 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  the  forger,  fearful  that  his 

23 


FORGERY  BY  TRACING 

attempt  to  imitate  another's  writing  would  be  too 
easily  detected  if  made  with  a  free  hand,  sketches  in 
pencil  the  characters  he  intends  to  make  in  ink  on  the 
document,  or  traces  them  by  means  of  blackened  paper 
at  the  appropriate  place.  The  evidences  of  this  are 
very  likely  to  appear  when  the  document  is  examined 
in  transmitted  light. 

It  is  often  asserted  in  trials  that  tracings  of  a  genuine 
signature  invariably  show  hesitation  and  painting. 
This  is  not  always  the  fact.  Tracings  proven  and  sub- 
sequently admitted  to  have  been  such  have  shown  an 
apparent  absence  of  all  constraint,  and  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  result  revealed  no  pause  of  the  pen. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  these  freely  written  tracings 
have  invariably  shown  either  a  deviation  from  some 
habitual  practice  of  the  writer,  or,  if  the  model  was 
followed  with  skill,  two  or  three  such  tracings,  when 
photographed  on  a  transparent  film  and  superposed, 
have  shown  such  exact  resemblances  as  to  proclaim 
their  character  at  once. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  introduce  some 
elements  of  symbolism  in  what  he  is  attempting  to 
trace  and  to  seek  some  sort  of  geometrical  symmetry 
in  what  he  designs.  Wherever  he  is  not  restricted  by 
certain  forms  which  he  must  introduce,  and  which  may 
render  a  balance  of  parts  about  a  median  line  unattain- 
able, he  tends  to  evolve  symmetrical  designs,  as  in  the 
highest  and  simplest  forms  of  ancient  architecture. 
When  the  parts  of  the  design  are  prescribed,  as  in  the 
representation  of  objects  in  nature,  he  soon  tires  of 
mere  mechanical  repetition  of  the  same  things  in  a  given 
sequence,  and  strives  to  convey  some  ulterior  idea  by 
the  manner  of  joining  these  parts.  This  gives  life  and 

23 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

language  to  sculpture  and  painting,  and  gives  character 
to  handwriting.  Tracing  signatures  is  one  of  the 
most  common  and  dangerous  methods  of  forgery. 
Some  specimens  of  traced  signatures  are  illustrated 
and  explained  in  an  Appendix  at  the  end  of  this 
book. 


Ill 

How  Forgers  Reproduce  Signatures 


CHAPTER   III 
HOW   FORGERS   REPRODUCE   SIGNATURES 

Characteristics  Appearing  in  Forged  Signatures  —  Conclusions 
Reached  by  Careful  Examinations  —  Signatures  Written  with 
Little  Effort  to  Imitate  —  What  a  Clever  Forger  Can  Do  — 
Most  Common  Forgeries  of  Signatures  —  Reproducing  a  Signa- 
ture over  a  Plate  of  Glass  —  A  Window  Frame  Scheme  for 
Reproducing  Signatures  —  How  the  Paper  is  Held  and  the  Ink 
Applied  —  How  a  Genuine  Signature  is  Placed  and  Used  —  A 
Forger's  Process  of  Tracing  a  Signature  —  How  to  Detect 
Ear  Marks  of  Fraud  in  a  Reproduced  Signature  —  Prominent 
Features  of  Signatures  Reproduced  —  Method  Resorted  to  by 
Novices  in  Forging  Signatures  —  Conditions  Appearing  in  All 
Traced  Signatures  —  Reproduction  of  Signatures  Adopted  by 
Expert  Forgers  —  Making  a  Lead -Pencil  Copy  of  a  Signature  — 
Erasing  Pencil  Signatures  Always  Discoverable  by  the  Aid  of  a 
Microscope  —  Appearances  and  Conditions  in  Traced  Signa- 
tures —  How  to  Tell  a  Traced  Signature  —  All  the  Details 
Employed  to  Reproduce  a  Signature  Given  —  Features  in 
Which  Forgers  are  Careless  —  Handling  of  the  Pen  Often  Leads 
to  Detection  —  A  Noted  Characteristic  of  Reproduced  Signa- 
tures —  Want  of  Proportion  in  Writing  Names  Should  Be 
Studied  —  Rules  to  Be  Followed  in  Examining  Signatures  — 
System  Employed  by  Experts  in  Studying  Proof  of  Reproduced 
Signatures  —  Bankers  and  Business  Men  Should  Avoid  Careless 
Signatures. 

In  detailing  matters  which  experience  suggests  as 
importantly  connected  with  the  examination  of  dis- 
puted signatures,  there  are  none  more  essential  to  a 
proper  consideration  of  the  subject  than  an  under- 
standing of  those  characteristics  often  appearing  in 
forged  signatures,  and  by  which  they  are  distinguished 
as  such.  When  the  features  occurring  as  a  concomi- 
tant of  most  forgeries  are  understood,  their  appearance 

27 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

may  suggest  a  short  and  easy  route  to  reach  a  con- 
clusion: yet  the  careful  and  conscientious  examiner 
will,  even  with  these  indications  present  in  a  disputed 
signature,  institute  a  very  careful  and  detailed  study 
of  the  latter  by  comparison  with  the  standard  writings ; 
and  with  as  much  effort  as  if  the  indications  of  forgery 
were  not  present.  To  make  these  features  positive 
evidence,  each  other  developed  detail  must  also  tend 
to  the  same  deduction,  and  each  detail  must  be  com- 
patible with  every  other  feature,  and  all  point  to  the 
same  conclusion. 

As  forgers  differ  in  their  capability  as  to  accuracy  in 
simulation,  all  grades  of  its  proficiency  come  up  in  the 
experience  of  those  who,  as  experts,  are  called  upon 
to  make  such  matters  a  study.  At  one  extreme  will 
be  found  to  occur  signatures  written  with  but  little 
effort  to  imitate  the  genuine  signature  they  purport 
to  represent;  with  all  the  intermediate  grades  of 
imitation  extending  to  the  other  extreme,  wherein  a 
skilful  forger  will,  by  practice,  so  simulate  the  signa- 
ture of  a  person  and  with  such  close  resemblance  that 
the  very  individual  whose  name  is  imitated  cannot, 
independently  of  attending  circumstances,  tell  the 
forgery  from  the  signature  which  he  knows  he  has 
written. 

Among  the  most  common  forgeries  of  signatures  are 
those  which  have  been  traced  from  genuine  ones,  and 
these  are  produced  in  various  ways ;  the  most  common 
method  being  to  place  the  genuine  signature  over  a 
plate  of  glass  horizontally  arranged,  with  a  strong 
light  behind  it,  or  against  the  window  frame,  and  then 
to  place  over  the  signature  so  positioned  the  paper  on 
which  the  forgery  is  to  be  made.  When  this  has  been 

28 


HOW  FORGERS  REPRODUCE  SIGNATURES 

done  the  papers  are  held  in  contact  firmly,  the  pen  is 
dipped  in  ink  and  moved  over  the  paper,  guided  by  the 
lines  of  the  genuine  signature  beneath,  which  show 
through  the  superimposed  paper,  and  by  means  of 
which  the  form  of  the  signature  is  transferred  to  the 
paper,  which  is  exteriorly  placed. 

While  the  process  of  tracing  produces  very  nearly 
the  proper  form  of  the  matter  thus  copied,  and  if  well 
done  by  the  forger  the  copy  will  in  general  appearance 
and  to  a  certain  extent  resemble  in  outline  the  signa- 
ture thus  traced,  there  are  usually  apparent  in  all 
reproduced  signatures  thus  made,  peculiarities  and 
ear  marks  indicating  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
produced  and  by  which  they  can  be  identified  as  such. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  reproduced 
signatures  is  the  general  sameness  of  the  writing  as 
appearing  in  the  uniform  width  of  the  lines,  and  the 
omission  of  the  usual  shading  emphasis.  The  cause  of 
this  appearance  is  the  absence  of  habitual  pen  pressure, 
and  the  necessitated  slow  movement  of  the  pen  held 
closely  in  contact  with  the  paper  and  by  which  a  uni- 
form and  steady  flow  of  ink  is  deposited  thereon; 
thus  making  what  should  be  the  heavier  and  lighter 
lines  of  one  width  and  density  as  to  shading.  This 
method  of  tracing  and  reproducing  signatures  is  that 
usually  resorted  to  by  novices  but  is  seldom  employed 
by  expert  forgers. 

Another  condition  appearing  in  all  traced  signatures 
is  the  absence  of  all  evidence  of  pen  pressure  when 
examined  as  a  transparency ;  this  deficiency  occurring 
as  consequent  upon  the  manner  of  moving  the  pen 
over  the  paper.  While  signatures  thus  made  may 
resemble  the  one  from  which  they  are  copied,  the  only 

29 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

likeness  they  have  is  that  of  pictorial  resemblance  and 
it  will  be  found  to  be  destitute  of  all  the  appearances 
and  indications  of  habitual  writing  in  other  respects. 

Another  method  of  tracing  signatures  is  frequently 
resorted  to  by  persons  adept  in  the  art,  and  this  con- 
sists in  making  a  lead-pencil  copy  of  the  genuine  signa- 
ture holding  the  paper  on  which  the  forgery  is  to  be 
produced;  tracing  the  outline  of  the  signature  by 
means  of  a  pencil,  and  then  with  ink  to  write  over  the 
pencil  copy.  But  as  the  method  necessitates  the  use 
of  an  india  rubber  to  remove  the  surplus  black  lead 
where  not  covered  by  the  ink,  evidences  of  the  use  of 
the  rubber  will  be  found  to  occur,  and  traces  of  the 
black  lead  can  be  found  by  the  microscope.  While 
the  appearances  and  conditions  are  common  to  traced 
signatures,  there  are  in  addition  to  their  presence 
generally  found  evidences  of  pauses  made  in  the  writ- 
ing, the  effect  of  which  will  appear  not  as  shading  of  the 
lines,  but  as  irregularities  or  excrescences  produced 
thereon  by  resting  the  hand  in  its  movement,  and  by 
which  at  intervals  more  ink  flowed  from  the  pen  than 
would  occur  when  the  latter  was  being  moved  habit- 
ually over  the  paper.  Where  the  signatures  of  the 
same  person  exactly  coincide  when  one  is  laid  over 
the  other  in  parallel  arrangement  with  a  strong  light 
behind  them,  this  condition  of  their  appearance  is  very 
positive  evidence  that  one  of  them  was  traced  from  the 
other  and  is  a  forgery,  as  it  is  a  circumstance  which 
cannot  possibly  occur  in  the  writing  of  two  signatures 
produced  habitually. 

In  considering  reproduced  signatures  and  forged 
writing  and  in  detailing  some  of  the  most  common 
features  which  are  found  to  occur  in  it,  it  must  not  be 

30 


HOW  FORGERS  REPRODUCE  SIGNATURES 

understood  that  all  the  phenomena  attending  the  pro- 
duction of  forged  signatures  can  be  given.  Inasmuch 
as  each  person  has  a  peculiar  muscular  co-ordination 
that  is  manifested  in  the  production  of  habitually 
written  signatures,  so  each  forger  from  the  same  cause 
has  an  individual  habit  that  must  be  used  when  simu- 
lating; hence  there  will  be  as  many  styles  of  writing 
manifested  in  production  of  forgeries  as  there  are 
forgers  to  produce  them.  No  positive  rule  can  be  laid 
down  for  the  classification  of  their  peculiarities  except- 
ing the  manner  of  accuracy  with  which  the  simulation 
appearing  in  them  is  done.  Each  case  of  disputed 
writing  must  be  examined  by  itself,  and  while  there 
are  certain  process  steps  to  be  followed  which  experience 
suggests  as  facilitating  the  analysis,  yet  the  examiner 
must  wholly  depend  upon  what  is  seen  in  the  disputed 
signature  that  is,  or  is  not,  found  in  the  admittedly 
genuine  writing  of  the  person  whose  signature  is 
questioned,  and  the  comparison  of  the  one  with  the 
other. 

Reproduced  signatures  often  show  a  copying  effort 
that  is  manifested  in  the  details  of  their  production. 
These  evidences  generally  appear,  in  some  instances,  as 
pauses  made  in  the  lines  connecting  the  letters  of  the 
signature,  where  the  pen  rested  while  the  eye  of  the 
forger  was  directed  from  the  writing  being  done  to  the 
copy,  that  the  writer  could  fix  in  the  mind  the  form  of 
a  succeeding  letter.  These  pauses  appear  in  different 
measure  of  prominence  in  different  forgeries,  and  there 
is  no  rule  as  to  their  measure  or  appearance.  With 
some  forgers  the  pen  rests  with  considerable  emphasis 
and  with  others  it  is  lifted  from  the  paper  and  returned 
to  the  paper  while  the  eye  of  the  writer  goes  back  to 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

the  copy.  With  others  there  will  appear  but  little 
hesitancy.  Some  forgers,  well  skilled  in  the  art,  will, 
by  practicing  the  simulation  until  they  have  the  form 
of  the  genuine  signature  well  fixed  in  the  mind,  become 
enabled  to  produce  a  forged  copy  of  a  genuine  signa- 
ture that  will  show  no  pauses  —  hence  the  absence  of 
pauses  is  not  proof  of  the  genuine  character  of  a  signa- 
ture. Another  common  characteristic  of  forged  and 
reproduced  signatures  and  particularly  such  of  them 
as  are  not  traced  and  are  produced  by  persons  not 
skilled  in  the  art  is  found  in  the  studied  appearance 
which  they  have,  as  if  written  under  restraint,  and 
without  the  apparent  freedom  consequent  upon 
habitual  writing.  Another  characteristic  of  forged 
signatures  that  are  not  traced  from  a  genuine  signature 
is  that  they  are  written  with  greater  length  in  proportion 
to  the  width  and  height  of  the  letters,  than  occurs  in 
the  genuine  signature  from  which  they  are  copied  in 
imitation.  This  want  of  proportion  occurs  generally 
from  making  the  lines  connecting  the  letters  of  the 
signature  longer  than  those  of  the  copy. 

At  the  same  time,  while  these  characteristics  are 
common  to  forged  writing,  to  make  them  available 
in  formulating  an  opinion  from  an  analysis  they  must 
be  substantiated  by  every  other  occurring  in  the  writ- 
ing. It  must  be  clearly  kept  in  view  that  general 
impressions  derived  from  a  cursory  examination  of 
a  disputed  or  reproduced  signature  should  have  no 
weight  in  the  mind  of  the  examiner  before  proceeding 
with  the  analysis,  as  such  an  impression  is  apt  to 
lead  the  investigation  into  a  particular  line  of  research 
and  it  should  be  understood  that  the  work  of  the 
examiner  must  relate  to  the  comparison  of  the  details 

32 


HOW  FORGERS  REPRODUCE  SIGNATURES 

in  each  of  the  writings  as  to  their  correspondence  or 
difference. 

As  before  stated  in  this  chapter,  and  a  fact  that 
should  be  remembered  in  studying  fraudulent  signa- 
tures, that  one  of  the  commonest  and  easiest  means 
of  reproducing  a  signature  is  to  put  the  genuine  sig- 
nature on  a  piece  of  glass,  lay  another  piece  of  glass 
on  top  of  it  and  fasten  the  piece  of  paper  that  is  to 
receive  the  forgery  on  top  of  that.  Then  by  holding 
the  glass  strips  to  a  bright  light,  the  original  signature 
casts  a  shadow  through,  which  may  be  traced  in 
pencil.  From  this  tracing  the  ink  forgery  is  com- 
pleted. 

But  when  a  forgery  done  in  this  way  is  put  under 
a  strong  magnifying  lens  it  will  not  bear  scrutiny. 
If  the  original  has  a  strong  down  stroke  on  the  capital 
letters  the  movement  will  be  free  and  will  leave  the 
pen  lines  with  smooth  edges.  The  man  who  is  tracing 
such  letters  cannot  trust  himself  to  the  same  free 
movement  of  the  pen  and  the  result  under  the  glass 
shows  hesitancy  and  uncertainty.  Also  if  other  lines 
in  the  signature  be  lighter  than  the  forger  naturally 
uses  the  same  hesitancy  will  be  shown.  When  the 
lines  have  passed  scrutiny,  too,  there  is  another  "line" 
test  which  will  show  that  the  impossibility  of  one's 
writing  two  signatures  alike  has  been  accomplished. 

From  dotted  points  made  above  the  genuine  sig- 
nature straight  lines  are  drawn  radiating  from  it  to 
certain  portions  of  certain  letters  in  the  signature 
that  is  forged.  When  the  forged  signature  is  replaced 
in  the  glass  and  the  other  on  top,  as  is  done  in  the 
tracing,  these  radiating  lines  will  fall  one  upon  the 
other  with  the  exactness  of  the  lines  in  the  signatures. 

33 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

These  radiating  lines,  too,  may  be  used  in  the  few 
cases  where  the  forger  is  an  expert  penman  depending 
upon  an  offhand  duplication  of  a  signature.  This 
penman  will  have  his  inevitable  natural  slant  to  his 
letters.  This  characteristic  slant  never  is  the  same 
in  two  individuals.  In  his  free  and  easy  forgery  of 
a  name  written  by  another  person  this  "Jim,  the  pen- 
man" exposes  his  acquired  slant  which  disputes  the 
original. 

This  slant  of  individual  writing  shows  especially 
in  any  attempt  to  write  a  forged  letter  or  document. 
When  the  pen  scope  of  the  original  has  been  lined 
out,  proving  the  characteristic  common  lengths  be- 
tween the  lifting  of  the  pen  from  the  paper,  the  lines 
radiating  from  the  points  to  individual  letters  in 
words  or  groups  of  words  in  authentic  and  bogus 
specimens,  these  radiations  point  at  once  to  the  fact 
that  the  same  person  did  not  write  the  matter. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  upon  which  the  hand- 
writing expert  works  upon  and  brings  to  bear  in 
proof  of  reproduced  signatures  and  handwriting  in 
general.  How  the  more  or  less  inexpert  person  dis- 
covers questionable  showing  in  these  duplications  are 
many.  His  intuitions  may  suggest  his  doubts.  Ma- 
terial evidences  may  have  come  to  bear  upon  him. 
Likelihood  of  someone  person's  having  self-interests 
in  the  matter  may  induce  him  to  make  sure. 

In  the  case  of  a  banker  or  business  man,  having 
large  interests  and  required  to  affix  his  signature  to 
many  papers  of  moment,  he  ordinarily  makes  it 
certain  that  through  adapted  whorls  and  freehand 
sweeps  of  the  pen,  the  signature  will  be  least  careless 
and  inviting  to  the  adventurous  forger.  In  much  of 

34 


HOW  FORGERS  REPRODUCE  SIGNATURES 

his  personal  correspondence  with  strangers,  however, 
this  adapted  and  unusual  signature  frequently  be- 
comes a  source  of  loss  to  himself  and  irritation  to  his 
correspondents.  In  the  case  of  hundreds  of  such 
individuals,  the  writing  to  a  stranger  in  expectation 
of  a  reply  becomes  an  absurdity  for  the  reason  that 
the  person  addressed  is  hopelessly  barred  from  read- 
ing the  name  attached  to  the  letter.  A  plain  signa- 
ture is  always  the  best. 


35 


IV 

Erasures,  Alterations  and  Additions 


CHAPTER   IV 
ERASURES,   ALTERATIONS  AND  ADDITIONS 

What  Erasure  Means  —  The  English  Law  —  What  a  Fraudulent 
Alteration  Means  —  Altered  or  Erased  Parts  Considered  — 
Memoranda  of  Alterations  Should  Always  Accompany  Paper 
Changed  —  How  Added  Words  Should  be  Treated  —  How  to 
Erase  Words  and  Lines  Without  Creating  Suspicion  —  Writing 
Over  an  Erasure  —  How  to  Determine  Whether  or  Not  Erasures 
or  Alterations  Have  Been  Made  —  Additions  and  Interlinea- 
tions —  What  to  Apply  to  the  Suspected  Document  —  The 
Alcohol  Test  Absolute  —  How  to  Tell  which  of  Crossing  Ink 
Lines  were  Made  First  —  Ink  and  Pencil  Alterations  and 
Erasures  —  Treating  Paper  to  Determine  Erasures,  Altera- 
tions and  Additions  —  Appearance  of  Paper  Treated  as 
Directed  —  Paper  That  Does  Not  Reveal  Tampering —  How 
Removal  of  Characters  From  a  Paper  is  Effected  — 
Easy  Means  of  Detecting  Erasures  —  Washing  With  Chemical 
Reagents  —  Restoration  of  Original  Marks  —  What  Erasure 
on  Paper  Exhibits  —  Erasure  in  Parchments  —  Identifying 
Typewritten  Matter —  Immaterial  Alterations  —  Altering  Words 
in  an  Instrument  —  Alterations  and  Additions  Are  Immaterial 
When  Interests  of  Parties  Are  Not  Changed  or  Affected  — 
Erasure  of  Words  in  an  Instrument. 

Erasure  or  erazuer,  as  it  is  more  commonly  called 
in  England,  from  the  Latin  word  "scrape  or  shave" 
is  the  scraping  or  shaving  of  a  deed,  note,  signature, 
amount  or  of  any  formal  writing.  In  England,  except 
in  the  case  of  a  will,  the  presumption,  in  the  absence 
of  rebutting  testimony,  is  that  the  erasure  was  made 
at  or  before  the  execution  thereof.  If  an  alteration 
or  erasure  has  been  made  in  any  instrument  subse- 
quent to  its  execution,  that  fact  ought  to  be  men- 
tioned (in  the  abstract  or  epitome  of  the  evidence  of 

39 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

ownership)   together  with   the    circumstances    under 
which  it  is  done. 

A  fraudulent  alteration,  if  made  by  the  person 
himself,  taking  under  it  would  vitiate  his  interest 
altogether.  It  was  formerly  considered  that  an 
alteration,  erasure  or  interlineation  would  void  the 
instrument  entirely,  even  in  those  cases  where  it  was 
made  by  a  stranger;  but  the  law  is  now  otherwise, 
as  it  is  clearly  settled  that  no  alterations  made  by  a 
stranger  will  prevent  the  contents  of  an  instrument 
from  retaining  its  original  effect  and  operation,  where 
it  can  be  plainly  shown  what  that  effect  and  operation 
actually  was.  To  accomplish  this  the  mutilated 
instrument  may  be  given  in  evidence  as  far  as  its  con- 
tents appear  and  evidence  will  be  admitted  to  show 
what  portions  have  been  altered  or  erased,  and  also 
the  words  contained  in  such  altered  or  erased  parts; 
but  if,  for  want  of  such  evidence  or  any  deficiency  or 
uncertainty  arising  out  of  it  the  original  contents  of 
the  instruments  cannot  be  ascertained,  then  the  old 
rule  would  become  applicable  or  more  correctly 
speaking,  the  mutilated  instrument  would  become 
void  for  uncertainty.  If  a  will  contains  any  altera- 
tions or  erasures,  the  attention  of  the  witnesses  ought 
to  be  directed  to  the  particular  parts  in  which  such 
alterations  occur,  and  they  ought  to  place  their 
initials  in  the  margin  opposite,  before  the  will  is  exe- 
cuted, etc.,  notice  this  having  been  done  by  a  mem- 
orandum added  to  the  attestation  clause  at  the  end 
of  the  will. 

In  Scotland  the  rule  as  to  erasure  is  somewhat 
stricter  than  in  England  and  the  United  States,  the 
legal  inferences  being  that  such  alterations  were  made 

40 


ERASURES,  ALTERATIONS  AND  ADDITIONS 

after  execution.  As  to  necessary  or  bona-fide  altera- 
tions which  may  be  desired  by  the  parties,  correc- 
tions or  clerical  errors  and  the  like  after  a  paper  is 
written  out  but  before  signature,  the  rule  usually 
followed  is  that  the  deed  must  show  that  they  have 
been  advisedly  adopted  by  the  party;  and  this  will 
be  effected  by  mentioning  them  in  the  body  of  the 
writing.  Thus  if  some  words  are  erased  and  others 
superinduced,  you  mention  that  the  superinduced 
words  were  written  over  an  erasure ;  if  words  are  sim- 
ply delite  that  fact  is  noticed,  if  words  are  added 
it  ought  to  be  on  the  margin  and  such  additions 
signed  by  the  party  with  his  Christian  name  on  one 
side  and  his  surname  on  the  other ;  and  such  marginal 
addition  must  be  noticed  in  the  body  of  the  work 
so  as  to  specify  the  page  on  which  it  occurs,  the  wri- 
ter of  it  and  that  it  is  subscribed  by  the  attesting 
witness. 

The  Roman  rule  was  that  the  alterations  should  be 
made  by  the  party  himself  and  a  formal  clause  was 
introduced  with  their  deeds  to  that  effect. 

As  a  general  rule  alterations  with  the  pen  are  in 
all  cases  to  be  preferred  to  erasure ;  and  suspicion  will 
be  most  effectually  removed  by  not  obliterating  the 
words  altered  so  completely  as  to  conceal  the  nature 
of  the  correction. 

The  law  of  the  United  States  follows  that  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  in  regard  to  alterations  and  erasures. 

If  any  one  will  try  the  experiment  of  erasing  an 
ink-mark  on  ordinary  writing  paper,  and  then  writing 
over  the  erasure,  he  will  notice  a  striking  difference 
between  the  letters  on  the  unaltered  surface.  The 
latter  are  broader,  and  in  most  cases,  to  the  unaided 

41 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

eye,  darker  in  color,  while  the  erased  spot,  if  not 
further  treated  to  some  substitute  for  sizing,  may  be 
noticed  either  when  the  paper  is  held  between  a  light 
and  the  eye,  or  when  viewed  obliquely  at  a  certain 
angle,  or  in  both  cases. 

Very  frequently  it  happens  that  so  much  of  the  size 
and  the  superficial  layer  of  fibres  must  be  removed 
that  the  mark  of  the  ink  can  be  distinctly  seen  on 
the  reverse  side  of  the  paper,  and  the  lines  have  a 
distinct  border  which  makes  them  broader  than  in 
the  same  writing  under  normal  conditions.  If  a  sharp 
pen  be  used  there  is  great  likelihood  that  a  hole  will 
be  made  in  the  paper,  or  a  sputter  thrown  over  the 
parts  adjacent  to  the  erasure. 

The  latter  effect  is  produced  by  the  entanglement 
of  the  point  of  the  pen  among  the  disturbed  fibres  of 
the  paper  and  its  sudden  release  when  sufficient  force 
is  used  to  carry  it  along  in  the  direction  of  the  writing. 

It  is  often  of  importance  to  know,  in  case  of  a  blot, 
whether  the  erasure  it  may  partially  mark  was  there 
before  the  blot,  or  whether  it  was  made  with  the  object 
of  removing  the  latter. 

Inasmuch  as  an  attempt  to  correct  such  a  disfigure- 
ment would  in  all  probability  not  be  made  until  the 
ink  had  dried,  an  inspection  of  the  reverse  side  of  the 
paper  will  usually  furnish  satisfactory  evidence  on 
the  point.  If  the  color  of  the  ink  be  not  more  distinct 
on  the  under  side  of  the  paper  than  the  color  of  other 
writing  where  there  was  no  erasure,  it  is  probable  that 
the  erasure  was  subsequent  to  the  blot. 

If  the  reverse  be  the  case,  the  opposite  conclusion 
may  be  drawn.  Blots  are  sometimes  used  by  ignorant 
persons  to  conceal  the  improper  manipulation  of  the 

42 


ERASURES,  ALTERATIONS  AND  ADDITIONS 

paper,  but  they  are  not  adapted  to  aid  this  kind  of 
fraud,  and  least  of  all  to  conceal  erasures. 

The  decision  as  to  whether  they  have  been  made 
legitimately  and  before  a  paper  was  executed,  or  sub- 
sequently to  its  execution,  and  with  fraudulent  intent, 
must  be  arrived  at  by  a  comparison  of  the  handwriting 
in  which  the  words  appear,  the  ink  with  which  they 
were  written,  and  the  local  features  of  each  special 
case  which  usually  are  not  wanting. 

To  determine  whether  or  not  papers  contain  erasures 
the  suspected  document  should  be  examined  by 
reflected  and  transmitted  light.  Examine  the  sur- 
face for  rough  spots.  Forgers  after  erasures  fre- 
quently endeavor  to  hide  the  scratched  and  roughened 
surface  by  applying  a  sizing  of  alum,  sandarach  pow- 
der, etc.,  rubbing  it  to  restore  the  finish  to  the  paper. 

Distilled  water  applied  to  the  suspected  document 
at  the  particular  points  under  examination  will  dis- 
solve the  sizing  applied  by  the  forger.  If  held  to  the 
light  the  thinning  will  show.  The  water  may  be  ap- 
plied with  a  small  brush  or  a  medicine  dropper.  Water 
slightly  warmed  may  be  used  with  good  results  at 
times. 

Alcohol,  if  applied  as  described  for  water,  will  act 
more  promptly  and  show  the  scratched  places.  It 
may  be  well  to  use  water  first  and  then  alcohol. 

To  discover  whether  or  not  acids  were  used  to  erase, 
if  moistened  litmus-paper  be  applied  to  the  writing, 
the  litmus-paper  will  become  slightly  red  if  there  is 
any  acid  remaining  on  the  suspected  document.  If 
the  suspected  spots  be  treated  with  distilled  water,  or 
alcohol,  as  already  described,  the  doctored  place  will 
show,  when  examined  in  strong  light. 

43 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

Which  of  two  inklines  crossing  each  other  was 
made  first,  is  not  always  easy  of  demonstration.  To 
the  inexperienced  observer  the  blackest  line  will 
always  appear  to  be  on  top,  and  unless  the  examiner 
has  given  much  intelligent  observation  to  the  phe- 
nomenon and  the  proper  methods  of  observing  it 
mistakes  are  very  liable  to  be  made.  Owing  to  the 
well-known  fact  that  an  inked  surface  presents  a 
stronger  chemical  affinity  for  ink  than  does  a  paper 
surface,  when  one  ink-line  crosses  another,  the  ink 
will  flow  out  from  the  crossing  line  upon  the  surface  of 
the  line  crossed,  slightly  beyond  where  it  flows  upon 
the  paper  surface  on  each  side,  thus  causing  the  cross- 
ing line  to  appear  broadened  upon  the  line  crossed. 
Also  an  excess  of  ink  will  remain  in  the  pen  furrows  of 
the  crossing  line,  intensifying  them  and  causing  them 
to  appear  stronger  and  blacker  than  the  furrows  of 
the  line  crossed. 

It  is  probable  that  ink  and  pencil  alterations  and 
erasures  are  more  frequently  made  with  a  sharp  steel 
scraper  and  ink-erasing  sand  rubber  than  otherwise. 
By  these  methods  the  evidence  —  first,  the  removal 
of  the  luster  or  mill-finish  from  the  surface  of  the 
paper;  second,  the  disturbance  of  the  fibre  of  the 
paper,  manifest  under  a  microscope;  third,  if  written 
over,  the  ink  will  run  or  spread  more  or  less  in  the 
paper,  presenting  a  heavier  appearance,  and  the 
edges  of  the  lines  will  be  less  sharply  defined ;  fourth, 
if  erasure  is  made  on  ruled  paper,  the  base  line  will 
be  broken  or  destroyed  over  the  scraped  or  rubbed 
surface;  fifth,  the  paper,  since  it  has  been  more  or 
less  reduced  in  thickness  where  the  erasure  has  been 
made,  when  held  to  the  light  will  show  more  or  less 

44 


ERASURES,  ALTERATIONS  AND  ADDITIONS 

transparency.  When  erasures  have  been  thus  made 
the  surface  of  the  paper  may  be  resized  and  polished, 
by  applying  white  glue,  and  rubbing  it  over  with  a 
burnisher.  When  thus  treated  it  may  be  again  writ- 
ten over  without  difficulty.  When  erasures  have  been 
made  with  acids,  there  is  a  removal  of  the  gloss,  or 
mill-finish ;  and  there  is  also  more  or  less  discoloration 
of  the  paper,  which  will  vary  according  to  the  kind  of 
paper,  ink,  and  acid  used,  and  the  skill  with  which  it 
has  been  applied.  If  the  acid-treated  surface  is  again 
written  over,  the  writing  will  present  a  more  or  less 
ragged  and  heavy  appearance,  if  the  paper  has  not 
been  first  skillfully  resized  and  burnished.  It  is  very 
seldom  that  writing  can  be  changed  by  erasure  so  as 
not  to  leave  sufficient  traces  to  lead  to  detection 
and  demonstration  through  a  skillful  examination. 

Upon  hard  uncalendered  paper  erasures  by  acid 
when  skillfully  made  are  not  conspicuously  manifest, 
nor  when  made  upon  any  hard  paper  which  has  been 
"wet  down"  for  printing,  since  the  luster  upon  the 
paper  would  be  thereby  removed,  and,  so  far  as  the 
surface  of  the  paper  is  concerned,  there  would  be  no 
further  change  from  the  application  of  the  acid. 
This  applies  to  a  wide  range  of  printed  blank  business 
and  professional  forms. 

A  forgery  consists  either  in  erasing  from  a  document 
certain  marks  which  existed  upon  it,  or  in  adding 
others  not  there  originally,  or  in  both  operations,  of 
which  the  first  mentioned  is  necessarily  antecedent 
to  the  last;  as  where  one  character  or  series  of  char- 
acters is  substituted  for  another. 

The  removal  of  characters  from  a  paper  is  effected 
either  by  erasure  (seldom  by  pasting  some  opaque 

45 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

objects  over  the  characters,  painting  over  them,  or 
affixing  a  seal,  wafer,  etc.,  to  the  spot  where  they 
existed)  or  by  the  use  of  chemical  agents  with  the  ob- 
ject of  dissolving  the  writing  fluid  and  affecting  the 
underlying  paper  or  parchment  as  little  as  possible. 

If  the  erasure  be  effected  by  scratching  or  rub- 
bing, this  removes  also  the  surface  of  the  paper,  which 
consists  of  some  sort  of  "size"  or  paste  with  resin 
soap,  which  is  pressed  into  the  upper  pores  to  give  the 
paper  a  smooth  appearance,  and  to  prevent  the  writ- 
ing fluid  from  "running,"  or  entering  the  pores  and 
blurring  the  edges  of  the  lines. 

If  the  paper  were  left  as  it  exists  when  the  scratch- 
ing or  rubbing  is  completed,  it  would  be  very  easy  to 
see  that  it  had  been  tampered  with,  for  not  only 
would  the  parts  thus  abrased  show  the  running  of  any 
fluid  which  was  subsequently  laid  upon  them,  but 
the  surface  would  appear  rough  to  the  eye  in  com- 
parison with  adjacent  parts  of  the  paper,  and  the 
place  would  appear  thinner  by  transmitted  light. 
Even  to  the  touch  the  surface  would  reveal  differ- 
ences from  the  ordinary  condition  of  other  parts  of  the 
paper. 

But  the  forger  usually  endeavors  to  overcome  these 
difficulties  by  applying  to  the  scratched  area  sanda- 
rach,  resin,  alum,  paste,  or  two  or  three  of  these  to- 
gether, the  effect  being  to  prevent  an  unusually  large 
flow  of  ink  from  the  pen  and  its  abnormal  absorption 
by  the  paper. 

The  paper  should  be  placed  between  the  observer 
and  a  strong  light,  by  which  means,  either  with  or  with- 
out a  magnifying-glass,  a  distinct  increase  in  the 
brightness  of  the  suspected  area  may  be  noticed,  in- 

46 


ERASURES,  ALTERATIONS  AND  ADDITIONS 

dicating  a  thinning,  and  even  traces  of  letters,  or 
marks  which  have  escaped  the  erasing-tool,  may  be 
seen. 

A  close  scrutiny  may  show  places  where  the  surface 
has  been  partially  torn,  and  the  fibres  of  the  paper 
united  together  into  little  knobs,  and  almost  inva- 
riably a  magnifying-glass  will  clearly  show  the  dis- 
turbance of  the  superficial  fibres,  as  compared  with 
other  and  normal  parts  of  the  paper.  If  the  latter 
be  tinted,  the  change  of  appearance  may  extend  to 
color.  The  color  of  the  paper  should  always  be 
attentively  observed. 

A  change  of  color  over  the  part  which  is  the  subject 
of  investigation  may  indicate  the  mechanical  removal 
of  the  paper  itself,  or  a  washing  either  with  water  or 
with  acids,  alkalies,  or  saline  solutions.  A  certain 
spotted  character  which  follows  this  latter  treatment 
differs  from  the  changes  of  color  due  to  age  or  soiling. 

When  the  heavier  strokes  —  usually  the  down 
strokes  —  of  a  writing  are  thicker  and  more  blurred 
than  usual  a  removal  of  sizing  is  indicated,  or  an  orig- 
inal imperfect  sizing  of  the  paper. 

On  the  contrary,  where  the  strokes  are  thinner 
and  closer  together  than  usual,  the  cause  is  generally 
the  application  of  resin,  which  has  been  added,  in  all 
probability,  to  conceal  a  previous  scratching  of  the 
surface. 

The  spots  produced  by  washing  are  more  like  pe- 
numbra, or  blurred  marks  bordering  the  tracings  of 
the  character,  and  are  generally  colored. 

In  order  to  bring  out  any  traces  of  ink-marks  which 
have  been  so  far  removed  as  not  to  be  observable  by 
the  naked  eye,  Coulier  recommended  the  placing  of 

47 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

the  document  between  sheets  of  white  filter  paper  and 
passing  a  hot  flatiron  over  it,  allowing  the  latter  to 
remain  on  the  spotted  parts  for  a  short  time.  An- 
other method  is  to  wet  the  suspected  paper  or  docu- 
ment with  alcohol,  wrapped  in  another  piece  of  paper 
also  saturated  with  alcohol,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
out  as  yellow  rusty  marks  all  the  pen  strokes  which 
had  not  been  entirely  removed  by  erasure. 

This  treatment  fixes  the  appearance  of  the  spread 
lines  and  colored  spots  in  the  space  that  has  been 
washed  and  renders  more  noticeable  the  stain  caused 
by  a  partial  sizing.  In  this  manner  apparently 
white  paper  on  which  at  first  no  traces  of  characters 
could  be  found  showed  a  yellow  tinge,  denoting  the 
presence  of  previous  writing,  and  on  the  application  of 
gallic  acid  and  an  infusion  of  nut-galls  became  suffi- 
ciently distinct  to  permit  the  erasure  and  forgery  to 
be  detected. 

When  an  erasure  is  made  on  the  surface  of  such  a 
paper,  the  mineral  and  organic  materials  of  the  sizing 
and  loading  are  removed,  and  the  fibres  of  the  paper 
which  they  unite  are  deranged  in  form  and  position. 
Such  a  surface  exhibits  invariably  the  teased-up  ends 
of  the  fibres,  and  generally  shows  by  the  agreement 
in  their  direction  in  what  way  the  scratching  was  done. 

Even  in  cases  where  a  substitute  for  the  sizing  has 
been  so  successfully  added  that  no  change  in  color  or 
surface  is  observable,  the  fibres  will  show  by  their 
unusual  positions  that  they  have  been  disturbed. 
When  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  write  over  the 
place  without  sufficiently  restoring  the  sizing,  the 
effects  can  be  seen  in  the  running  of  the  ink  between 
the  fibres  and  the  staining  of  the  body  of  the  paper 

48 


to  a  considerable  depth  from  the  surface  and  to  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  spot. 

Erasures  in  parchments  produce  prominences  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  sheet.  The  ink  placed  upon 
such  erasures  has  a  peculiar  bluish  tinge.  It  happens 
at  times  that  a  whole  page  is  taken  out,  either  by 
scratching  or  rubbing  with  pumice  (which  was  the 
practice  in  the  eleventh  century,  when  a  parchment 
became  so  valuable  that  it  was  common  to  keep  up 
the  supply  by  erasing  the  writing  on  old  parchments) 
or  by  washing. 

When  the  latter  method  was  used,  the  writing  as  in 
palimpsests  can  be  made  to  reappear  by  warming. 
The  parchment  can  be  either  laid  on  a  hot  plate  or 
pressed  with  a  hot  flatiron  between  two  sheets  of 
paper. 

Where  the  supposed  writer  of  a  document  was  a  bad 
or  careless  penman  the  interlineations  or  additions  are 
generally  distinguished  from  his  handwriting,  which 
they  simulate,  by  greater  clearness  and  precision,  as 
has  been  said  above;  for  when  a  man  will  risk  being 
sent  to  jail  for  forgery  it  is  not  likely  that  he  is  willing 
to  lose  any  prospective  advantage  which  his  felony 
will  bring  him  by  lack  of  distinctness  in  the  characters 
by  means  of  which  it  is  perpetrated. 

Considering  the  number  of  fraudulent  additions  or 
interlineations  which  are  constantly  made,  the  number 
of  mistakes  in  spelling  or  in  following  the  method  em- 
ployed by  the  supposed  writer  in  forming  the  same 
words  is  surprisingly  great.  Several  instances  are 
recalled  where  the  name  of  the  supposed  writer  was 
not  only  mispelled  but  spelled  in  two  different  ways  in 
the  same  instrument.  It  occasionally  seems  as  if  the 

49 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

forger's  attention  is  so  earnestly  directed  to  overcom- 
ing the  difficult  parts  of  his  task  that  he  neglects  the 
simpler  and  more  obvious  parts.  A  forger  generally 
leaves  some  telltale  marks  to  make  his  detection  certain. 

Since  typewriting  has  come  so  generally  into  use, 
the  question  often  arises  as  to  the  identity  of  type- 
writing by  different  operators  as  well  as  that  done  on 
different  machines.  This  may  usually  be  done  with 
considerable  degree  of  certainty.  Different  operators 
have  their  own  peculiar  methods,  which  differ  widely 
in  many  respects, —  in  the  mechanical  arrangement, 
as  to  location  of  date,  address,  margins,  punctuation, 
spacing,  signing,  as  well  as  impression  from  touch,  etc. 

The  distinctive  character  of  the  writing  done  on 
different  machines  is  usually  determined  with  abso- 
lute certainty.  With  most  machines  there  are  acci- 
dental variations  in  alignment.  Certain  letters  from 
use  become  more  or  less  imperfect,  or  become  filled  or 
fouled  with  ink.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  any 
one  even  of  these  accidents  should  occur  in  precisely 
the  same  way  upon  two  machines,  and  that  any  two 
or  more  should  do  so  is  well  nigh  impossible.  It  is 
equally  certain  that  all  the  habits  and  mannerisms  of 
the  operators  would  not  be  precisely  the  same.  A 
careful  comparison  of  different  typewritings  in  these 
respects  cannot  fail  to  determine  whether  they  are 
written  by  the  same  operator  or  upon  the  same  ma- 
chine. It  should  be  rememberd  that  writing  upon 
the  same  machine  will  differ  in  all  the  respects  men- 
tioned at  different  stages  of  its  use  and  condition. 

An  immaterial  alteration  is  one  which  does  not 
change  the  legal  effect  or  significance  of  an  instru- 
ment. If  what  has  been  written  upon  or  erased  from 

5° 


the  instrument  has  no  tendency  to  mislead  any  person 
to  the  instrument,  it  will  not  be  an  alteration;  it  is 
immaterial  also  where  the  meaning  is  in  no  manner 
varied  or  changed. 

The  courts  uniformly  hold  that  an  immaterial  alter- 
ation should  be  treated  as  no  alteration  and  therefore 
does  not  avoid  the  instrument.  . 

Altering  words  in  the  instrument  without  changing 
the  legal  sense  or  altering  immaterial  words  is  an  im- 
material alteration. 

Retracing  a  faded  name  with  ink,  or  tracing  a  word 
with  ink  written  with  pencil,  is  immaterial. 

Alterations  and  additions  in  deeds  are  immaterial 
where  neither  the  rights  or  duties,  interests  or  obli- 
gations, of  either  of  the  parties  to  the  instrument  are 
in  any  manner  changed  or  affected. 

A  promissory  note  made  payable  to  a  partnership 
under  a  certain  name  was  altered  by  the  maker  and 
the  payee  without  the  knowledge  of  the  surety  so  as 
to  be  payable  to  the  same  parties  under  another  name 
and  the  court  held  it  to  be  immaterial. 

But  the  effect  of  the  correction  must  be  that  it 
makes  the  instrument  conform  to  the  intention  of  the 
parties  concerned,  nor  must  they  alter  the  legal  sense 
of  the  instrument.  Memoranda  made  on  the  margin 
of  the  note  for  the  convenience  of  the  holder  and  merely 
explanatory  of  some  circumstances  connected  with 
the  note  are  immaterial.  The  erasure  of  words  imma- 
terial to  the  legal  sense  of  the  instrument  or  inserted 
by  mistake,  is  also  immaterial. 

Where  an  alteration  is  in  itself  immaterial  it  will 
not  void  an  instrument  even  though  made  with  fraud- 
ulent intent. 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

In  Missouri  it  has  been  held  that  any  alteration  ma- 
terial or  immaterial,  made  fraudulently  or  innocently, 
avoids  a  note  in  the  hands  of  one  who  made  the  alter- 
ation. But  in  a  later  Missouri  case,  it  is  held,  that 
the  addition  of  the  signature  of  a  married  woman 
without  a  separate  estate  to  a  note  already  issued 
was  a  nullity  and  without  legal  effect  and  therefore 
to  be  considered  as  no  alteration  and  not  to  discharge 
the  original  parties. 


V 

How  to  Write  a  Check  to  Prevent 
Forging 


CHAPTER  V 

HOW  TO  WRITE  A  CHECK  TO   PREVENT 
FORGING 

How  a  Paying  Teller  Determines  the  Amount  of  a  Check  —  Written 
Amount  and  Amount  in  Figures  Conflict  —  Depositor  Protected 
by  Paying  Teller  —  Chief  Concern  of  Drawer  of  a  Check  — 
Transposing  Figures  —  Writing  a  Check  That  Cannot  Be  Raised 

—  Writers  Who  Are  Easy  Marks  for  Forgers  —  Safeguards  for 
Those  Who  Write  Checks  —  An  Example  of  Raised  Checks  — 
Payable   "To   Bearer"   is  Always   a  Menace  —  Paying  Teller 
and  an   Endorsement   System  Must   Be  Observed  in  Writing 
Checks  —  How  a  Check  Must  Be  Written  to  Be  Absolutely  Safe 

—  A  Signature  that  Cannot  Be  Tampered  with  Without  Detec- 
tion —  Paying  Tellers  Always  Vigilant. 

Among  the  casual  patrons  of  the  average  bank  there 
is  a  superstition  that  in  presenting  a  check  at  a  teller 's 
window  the  amount  of  the  check  shall  be  determined 
by  the  amount  spelled  out  in  the  body  of  the  check, 
without  regard  to  the  figures  written  at  the  top  or  bot- 
tom of  the  slip. 

Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  facts  as  they  are 
accepted  at  the  bank  window.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
when  a  check  made  out  in  this  erroneous  way  comes  to 
a  teller's  window  he  is  most  likely  to  refuse  to  pay 
either  amount.  There  is  no  law,  written  or  unwritten, 
to  justify  the  paying  of  the  amount  spelled  out  in  the 
body  of  the  check,  regardless  of  the  group  of  figures 
on  its  face.  This  figure  group  is  designed  merely  to 
check  and  justify  the  written  amount,  but  if  there  is 
a  discrepancy  between  the  two  amounts  there  is  noth- 

55 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

ing  to  indicate  that  it  is  not  the  written  amount 
that  is  wrong  and  the  figure  group  that  is  right. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  chief  duty  of  the  teller 
is  to  protect  the  depositor  who  has  drawn  the  check 
on  his  bank.  The  person  who  presents  the  check  for 
payment  manifestly  has  been  a  party  to  the  mistake 
in  not  having  read  over  the  check  carefully  before  re- 
ceiving it.  If  the  payee  is  unknown  to  the  teller  and 
if  the  discrepancy  is  at  all  material,  the  teller  turns  the 
check  back  with  the  advice  that  the  payee  look  up  the 
drawer  and  have  the  error  corrected. 

In  many  cases  of  discrepancy  between  the  two 
amounts  on  the  face  of  a  check  the  sum  involved  is 
the  fractional  part  of  the  dollar  at  the  end  of  the  chief 
figures.  This  comes  about  through  the  drawer's  con- 
cern over  the  main  figures  in  the  check.  He  is  likely 
to  write  the  amount  in  letters  on  the  center  line  of 
the  body  of  the  check,  affixing  the  fractional  part  of 
a  dollar  in  the  form  of  looth  parts  of  that  unit.  In 
writing  the  checking  group  in  figures  at  the  upper  or 
lower  corner  of  the  slip,  his  chief  concern  is  with  the 
dollars  and  in  his  care  he  is  likely  to  overlook  the  odd 
cents  first  entered  on  the  face  of  the  paper.  Or  if  he 
attempts  to  write  the  figures  "74"  cents  in  repetition 
it  is  likley  that  they  may  be  transposed  to  "  47  "  cents 
in  the  operation. 

How  to  write  this  check  in  order  that  it  may  not  be 
tampered  with  and  "raised"  is  something  that  has 
held  the  attentions  and  invited  the  inventive  talents 
of  many  people,  in  and  out  of  business.  Even  when 
the  best  of  the  chemical  papers  are  used  in  the  bank 
check  the  drawer  of  the  paper  may  have  not  the  slight- 
est protection  from  "  raising  "  at  the  hands  of  an  ex- 

56 


HOW  TO  WRITE  A  CHECK 

pert.  The  manner  in  which  the  written  and  figure 
amounts  on  the  face  of  the  check  are  placed  makes 
the  material  alteration  of  the  amount  easy  beyond 
question. 

For  instance,  the  man  who  writes  with  a  free,  flow- 
ing, rounded  hand  and  leaves  roomy  spaces  everywhere 
between  words  and  figures  becomes  an  easy  mark  for 
a  forger.  This  man  is  called  upon  to  draw  his  check 
for  $4,  even.  He  takes  his  check  book  and  in  the 
dollar  line  writes  the  word  "four"  in  his  rounded 
hand,  simply  filling  the  rest  of  the  lined  space  with 
the  plain  flourish  of  his  pen.  Then  in  the  upper  cor- 
ner of  the  check  he  writes  the  attesting  figure  $4,  with 
a  dash  after  it.  That  makes  it  a  cinch  for  an  expert 
check  raiser  to  make  it  $40  or  $400  or  $4,000. 

Manifestly  the  only  safeguard  for  such  a  check  as 
this,  even  if  it  be  drawn  upon  chemical  paper,  is  for 
the  drawer  to  follow  close  upon  the  written  "four" 
with  the  blocking  "No-iboth"  dollars,  using  the  same 
fraction  as  closely  after  the  figure  "4"  in  the  corner 
of  the  check.  To  leave  no  possible  room  after  a  final 
written  or  figure  amount  on  a  check  is  the  best  possi- 
ble precaution  against  raising  it.  For  with  many 
checks  the  printed  warning  "  Not  good  if  drawn  for 
more  than  one  hundred  dollars,"  is  a  worthless  pre- 
caution. In  the  above  example  it  is  so,  for  the  reason 
that  raised  as  it  is  the  amount  still  is  within  the  limit. 
Had  the  check  been  drawn  in  the  same  style  for  "  six" 
dollars,  it  would  have  been  more  easily  and  profitably 
raised  to  "sixty."  In  the  same  general  manner  a 
slovenly  "two"  may  be  raised  to  "twenty,"  "three" 
may  be  "thirty,"  "five"  is  made  "fifty,"  "seven"  be- 
comes "seventy,"  "eight"  becomes  "eighty,"  and 

57 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

"nine"  is  transformed  into  " ninety "- —  all  without 
erasures  and  without  leaving  telltale  marks  upon  a 
chemical  paper. 

In  this  way  the  average  check  which  is  made  pay- 
able "  to  bearer"  may  be  a  potential  menace  in  a  slow 
course  through  a  dozen  hands.  While  a  bank  may  re- 
quire the  holder  of  a  "bearer"  check  to  indorse  his 
name  upon  the  back,  that  indorsement  means  noth- 
ing to  him.  The  check  is  payable  to  the  bearer  and 
the  teller  must  pay  it  if  it  appears  all  right  and  he  is 
certain  of  the  signature  at  the  bottom. 

For  the  average  man  who  may  write  his  checks  at  a 
desk,  and  who  may  be  willing  to  observe  some  system 
in  the  writing,  perhaps  the  safest  and  cheapest  pro- 
tection for  his  paper  is  to  repeat  in  red-ink  figures  the 
amount  for  which  the  check  is  drawn,  placing  those 
figures  on  the  signature  line  at  the  bottom  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  black-ink  signature  will  be  woven 
through  the  red-ink  group.  Virtually  there  is  no  way 
of  getting  around  this  form  of  duplicated  amount. 
The  red  figures  show  plainly  through  the  signature 
and  cannot  be  changed  without  affecting  the  form  and 
character  of  the  signature  itself.  To  affect  a  signature 
in  this  way  is  to  call  attention  to  the  fraud  instantly. 
A  man  may  make  a  shaky  mismove  of  the  pen  some- 
where in  the  body  of  the  check,  and  if  it  is  not  too 
prominent  a  teller  may  take  a  chance  and  pass  it ;  but 
he  will  shy  at  a  signature  which  isn't  what  it  ought  to 
be  —  that  subtle  sixth  sense  of  the  old  teller  prompts 
him  to  it  before  he  knows  why,  and  a  paying  teller  is 
always  vigilant. 


VI 

Methods  of  Forgers,  Check  and  Draft 
Raisers 


CHAPTER  VI 

METHODS  OF  FORGERS,  CHECK  AND  DRAFT 
RAISERS 

Professional  Forgers  and  Their  Methods  —  Using  Engravers  and 
Lithographers  —  Their  Knowledge  of  Chemicals  —  Patching 
Perforated  Paper  —  Difficult  Matter  to  Detect  Alterations  and 
Forgeries  —  Selecting  Men  for  the  Work  —  The  Middle  Man, 
Presenter,  and  Shadow  —  Methods  for  Detecting  Forgery  — 
Detail  Explanation  of  How  Forgers  Work  —  Altering  and 
Raising  Checks  and  Drafts  —  A  Favorite  Trick  of  Forgers  — 
Opening  a  Bank  Account  for  a  Blind  —  Private  Marks  on 
Checks  no  Safeguard  —  How  a  Genuine  Signature  Is  Secured  — 
Bankers  Can  Protect  Themselves  —  A  Forger  the  Most  Danger- 
ous Criminal  —  Bankers  Should  Scrutinize  Signatures  —  Send- 
ing Photograph  with  Letter  of  Advice  —  How  to  Secure  Pro- 
tection Against  Forgers  —  Manner  in  Which  Many  Banks  Have 
Been  Swindled  —  Points  About  Raising  Checks  and  Drafts 
That  Should  Be  Carefully  Noted. 

A  professional  forgery  band  consists  of  first,  a  cap- 
italist or  backer;  second,  the  actual  forger,  known 
among  his  associates  as  the  "  scratcher" ;  third,  the  man 
who  acts  as  confidential  agent  for  the  forger,  known 
as  the  "middle  man";  fourth,  the  man  who  presents 
the  forged  paper  at  the  bank  for  payment,  known  as 
the  "  layer  down ' '  or  presenter. 

When  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  capitalist  or  backer 
connected  with  a  band  he  furnishes  the  funds  for  the 
organization,  frequently  lays  out  the  plans  for  work 
and  obtains  the  genuine  paper  from  which  forgeries  are 
made.  He  will,  when  necessary,  find  the  engraver, 
the  lithographer  and  most  important  of  all,  the  "  pro- 
fessional forger,"  who  will  do  the  actual  forgery  work. 

61 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

The  professional  forger  has,  as  a  rule,  considerable 
knowledge  of  chemicals,  which  enables  him  to  alter 
checks,  drafts,  bills  of  exchange,  letters  of  credit,  or 
to  change  the  names  on  registered  bonds.  He  is  some- 
thing of  an  artist,  too,  for  with  a  fine  camel's  hair 
brush  he  can  restore  the  most  delicate  tints  in  bank 
safety  paper,  which  tints  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
use  of  acids.  In  fact  no  bank  safety  paper  is  a  pro- 
tection against  him. 

When  the  amount  of  the  genuine  draft  or  check  is 
perforated  in  the  paper,  certain  forgers  have  reached 
such  perfection  in  their  work  as  to  enable  them  to  cut 
out  the  perforation,  put  in  a  patch  about  the  same  as 
a  shoemaker  does  with  a  shoe  and  then  skilfully  col- 
or the  patch  to  agree  with  the  original,  so  that  it  be- 
comes a  very  difficult  matter  to  detect  the  alterations 
even  with  the  use  of  a  microscope.  This  done  and 
the  writing  cleaned  off  the  face  of  the  draft,  check,  let- 
ter of  credit,  or  bill  of  exchange,  with  only  the  genuine 
signature  left  and  the  tints  on  the  paper  restored,  the 
forger  is  prepared  to  fill  up  the  paper  for  any  amount 
decided  upon. 

The  backer  or  capitalist  is  rarely  known  to  any 
member  of  the  band  outside  the  "go-between,  "  whom 
he  makes  use  of  to  find  the  forger.  He  very  rarely 
allows  himself  to  become  known  to  the  men  who  "pre- 
sent" the  forged  paper  at  the  banks.  If  the  forgery 
scheme  is  successful,  the  backer  receives  back  the 
money  paid  out  for  the  preparation  of  the  work  as 
well  as  any  amount  he  may  have  lent  the  "band"  to 
enable  them  to  open  accounts  at  banks  where  they 
propose  placing  the  forged  paper.  He  is  also  allowed 
a  certain  percentage  on  all  successful  forgeries,  this 

62 


CHECK  AND  DRAFT  RAISERS 

percentage  running  from  20  to  30  per  cent ;  but  where 
the  backer  and  forger  are  working  together,  their  joint 
percentage  is  never  less  than  50  per  cent. 

It  is  an  invariable  rule  followed  by  the  backer  and 
forger  that  in  selecting  a  middle  man  they  select  one 
who  not  only  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  "stanch" 
man,  but  he  must  also  be  a  man  who  has  at  least  one 
record  of  conviction  standing  against  him.  This  is 
for  the  additional  protection  of  the  backer  and  forger, 
as  they  know  that  in  law  the  testimony  of  an  accomplice 
who  is  also  a  former  convict  must  be  strongly  corrob- 
orated to  be  believed. 

Out  of  their  first  successful  forgeries  a  certain  sum 
from  each  man's  share  is  held  by  the  middle'man  to  be 
used  in  the  defense  of  any  member  of  the  band  who 
may  be  arrested  on  the  trip.  This  money  is  called 
"fall  money"  and  is  used  to  employ  counsel  for  the 
men  under  arrest  or  to  do  anything  for  them  that  may 
be  for  their  interest. 

When  a  "middle  man"  is  exceedingly  cautious  and 
not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  "presenters"  he  will 
sometimes  have  an  assistant.  This  is  where  the 
"shadow"  comes  in.  This  shadow  will  under  the 
direction  of  the  "middle  man"  follow  the  "presenter" 
into  the  bank  and  report  fully  on  his  actions.  He 
sometimes  catches  the  "presenter"  in  an  attempt  to 
swindle  his  companions  by  claiming  that  he  did  not 
get  the  money,  but  had  to  get  out  of  the  bank  in  a 
hurry  and  leave  the  check  or  draft,  as  the  paying  teller 
was  suspicious. 

A  "presenter"  caught  at  this  trick  is  sometimes 
sent  into  a  bank  to  present  a  forged  check  where  the 
bank  has  been  previously  warned  of  his  coming  by  an 

63 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

anonymous  letter.  This  is  done  as  a  punishment  for 
his  dishonesty  and  as  a  warning  to  others  against 
treachery. 

That  the  professional  forger  eventually  profits  but 
little  by  his  ill-gotten  gains  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
fate  of  the  most  of  them,  who  end  their  days  in  prison. 

In  the  case  of  a  forgery  there  are  a  dozen  methods 
for  detecting  it  —  in  the  quality  of  the  ink,  in  the 
quality  of  paper,  in  microscopic  examination  of  the  ir- 
regularities in  penmanship,  in  "labored"  tracings  that 
show  exaggerated  tracings,  in  composite  photography, 
and  by  a  dozen  little  common-sense  observations  that 
scarcely  can  be  controverted. 

Some  forgeries  have  been  detected  by  the  mere 
water-mark  in  the  paper.  Sittl  of  Munich  is  quoted 
as  having  had  referred  to  him  a  possible  forgery  of  a 
document  dated  1868.  Holding  the  paper  to  the  light, 
he  found  as  a  water-mark  in  it  the  figure  of  the  eagle 
of  the  German  Empire — a  symbol  which  had  not  been 
adopted  at  all  until  after  the  French  war  of  1870. 

The  magnifying  glass  is  depended  upon  for  many 
disclosures  of  forgeries.  The  unduly  serrated  edges  of 
the  ink  lines  are  quickly  marked  in  a  forgery,  though 
under  certain  circumstances  a  situation  may  be  such 
as  to  force  a  person  into  this  laborious  writing ;  he  may 
be  cramped  up  in  bed,  writing  on  a  book  held  in  his 
lap,  or  he  may  be  in  a  mental  strain  that  produces  it. 

There  are  minds  so  easily  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
responsibility  that  the  writing  or  signing  of  any  paper 
important  in  its  bearing  on  the  writer  or  his  property 
will  cause  him  to  disguise  his  hand  to  some  extent  in- 
voluntarily, as  many  persons  disguise  their  features 
involuntarily  when  being  photographed. 

64 


CHECK  AND  DRAFT  RAISERS 

As  to  signatures  especially,  attention  is  called  to 
the  "tremor  of  fraud,"  which  is  to  be  detected  by  the 
microscope,  and  stress  is  laid  upon  the  necessity  of 
observing  just  where  this  tremor  falls.  If  it  is  in  a 
difficult  flourish  of  the  signature  and  not  elsewhere  it 
indicates  fraud;  or  if  it  be  tremulous  to  the  eye,  in 
imitation  of  the  signature  of  an  aged  person,  a  smooth, 
curved  line  may  be  the  index  of  "  the  difficulty  experi- 
enced by  a  good  penman  in  feigning  to  be  a  bad  one." 

The  microscope  is  useful  and  valuable  in  determin- 
ing whether  erasures  have  been  made  on  paper.  Also 
it  will  discover  which  of  two  crossed  lines  was  last  writ- 
ten. It  may  determine  whether  the  ragged  edges  of 
the  ink  lines  are  those  of  fraud,  illiteracy,  or  old  age. 

The  practice  of  forging  the  names  of  depositors  in 
banks  to  checks,  drafts,  notes,  and  in  fact  to  all  papers 
representing  a  money  value,  has  been  practiced,  proba- 
bly, since  the  creation  of  man.  Of  course  the  law  rec- 
ognizes forgery  as  a  serious  crime,  and  everywhere 
the  punishment  is  severe.  In  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury it  was  a  capital  offense  in  England,  and  there 
were  more  persons  executed  for  that  crime  than  there 
were  for  murder.  Notwithstanding  the  rigorous  pen- 
alty prescribed  in  every  state  in  the  Union,  forgery 
is  carried  on  to  an  alarming  extent,  sometimes  by 
trusted  employees,  as  well  as  professionals. 

The  raising  of  checks  and  drafts  is  the  principal 
method  employed  by  the  men  who  make  a  business 
of  defrauding  the  unwary.  The  simplest  way  of  ex- 
plaining the  operation  of  raising  a  draft  or  check  is 
is  follows: 

Two  men  are  necessary  for  success  at  any  given 
point,  and  hence  they  are  not  so  liable  to  detection  as 

65 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

if  a  number  of  confederates  were  engaged.  It  is  the 
business  of  one  of  these  men  to  enter  a  bank,  and  pur- 
chase a  draft  on  New  York  City,  for  a  certain  amount 
of  money,  usually  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and 
a  short  time  after  this  another  draft  would  be  procured 
from  the  same  bank  for  a  small  amount,  seldom  over 
ten  dollars.  These  drafts  procured,  they  are  handed 
to  the  "raiser,"  or  the  man  who  is  to  alter  the  paper 
for  their  dishonest  purposes.  In  a  short  time  the 
small  draft  is  raised  to  be  a  perfect  duplicate  of  the 
large  one,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  both  as  regards 
number,  amount,  place  of  presentation,  etc. 

This  work  of  alteration  being  fully  completed,  one 
of  the  men  would  then  remove  to  another  city,  and 
forward  the  "raised"  draft  to  New  York,  by  express, 
for  collection,  or  else  would  go  to  that  city  himself, 
and  have  it  cashed  through  some  respectable  person. 
Immediately  on  receiving  the  money  he  would  tele- 
graph his  companion,  in  words  previously  agreed  up- 
on, informing  him  of  the  successful  result  of  the  first 
move.  The  other  confederate,  upon  the  receipt  of 
this  information,  would  at  once  go  to  the  bank  where 
the  drafts  had  been  procured,  and  presenting  the  gen- 
uine draft  for  the  large  amount  of  money,  would  re- 
quest that  the  money  be  refunded,  giving  as  an  excuse 
for  not  using  it,  either  that  he  could  not  be  identified 
in  the  New  York  bank,  and  for  that  reason  could  not 
collect  it,  or  that  the  business  he  had  procured  it  for 
had  not  been  consummated.  The  bank  officials  would 
recognize  him  as  the  person  who  purchased  the  draft, 
and  would  unhesitatingly  hand  him  back  the  money 
which  he  had  paid.  Of  course  he  would  quickly  dis- 
appear from  the  locality,  never  to  be  seen  in  it  again — 

66 


CHECK  AND  DRAFT  RAISERS 

and  the  forgery  would  not  be  discovered  until,  in  the 
due  course  of  ordinary  business,  when  the  other  draft 
for  the  same  amount  would  be  returned  for  payment. 

A  favorite  trick  of  forgers,  and  check  and  draft 
raisers,  who  operate  on  an  extensive  scale,  is  for  one 
of  them  to  open  an  office  in  a  city,  and  represent  him- 
self as  a  cattle  dealer,  lumber  merchant,  or  one  look- 
ing about  for  favorable  real-estate  investments.  His 
first  move  is  to  open  a  bank  account,  and  then  works 
to  get  on  friendly  terms  with  the  cashier.  He  always 
keeps  a  good  balance  —  sometimes  way  up  in  the 
thousands  —  and  deports  himself  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  lead  to  the  belief  that  he  is  a  highly  honorable 
gentleman,  and  the  bank  officials  are  led  to  the  belief 
that  he  will  eventually  become  a  very  profitable 
customer. 

Occasionly  he  has  a  note,  for  a  small  amount  to  be- 
gin with,  always  first-class,  two-name  paper,  and  he 
never  objects  —  usually  insists  —  in  paying  a  trifle 
more  than  the  regular  discount.  At  first  the  bank 
officials  closely  examine  the  paper  offered,  and  of 
course  find  that  the  endorsers  are  men  of  high  standing, 
and  then  their  confidence  in  the  "cattle  king"  is  un- 
bounded. Gradually  the  notes  increase  in  amount, 
from  a  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  two  or  three  thousand.  The  notes 
are  promptly  paid  at  maturity.  After  the  confidence 
of  the  bank  people  has  been  completely  gained,  the 
swindler  makes  a  strike  for  his  greatest  effort.  He 
comes  in  the  bank  in  a  hurry,  presents  a  sixty-day 
note,  endorsed  by  first-class  men,  for  a  larger  amount 
than  he  has  ever  before  requested,  and  it  generally 
happens  that  he  gets  the  money  without  the  slight- 

67 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

est  difficulty.  Then  he  has  a  sudden  call  to  attend  to 
important  business  elsewhere.  When  the  note  or 
notes  mature,  it  is  discovered  to  be  a  clever  forgery. 
This  has  been  done  time  and  again,  and  it  is  rare  that 
the  forger  has  been  apprehended. 

The  forgery  of  checks  is  a  common  offense.  It 
takes  more  than  one  man  to  successfully  perform 
this  operation.  The  forger  himself  is  known  as  the 
"scratcher,"  or  the  expert  penman  of  the  party.  The 
"middle  man"  is  the  fellow  who  conducts  the  business 
negotiations,  ostensibly  as  a  merchant,  and  the  "layer- 
down"  is  the  man  who  presents  the  check  to  the  bank 
and  secures  the  cash.  The  middle  man  must  have  a 
pleasing  address,  and  be  thoroughly  posted  on  the  com- 
mercial news  of  the  day,  and  it  is  requisite  that  the 
layer-down  be  well  dressed,  quick  witted,  and  pos- 
sessed of  an  unlimited  amount  of  polite  assurance,  a 
cheek  that  never  pales  and  an  eye  that  never  droops. 
In  selecting  a  person  to  fill  this  important  position,  the 
forger  prefers  to  have  a  man  who  has,  at  some  time 
or  other,  been  convicted  of  crime,  so  that  in  case  of 
discovery,  and  the  turning  of  state's  evidence  by  the 
layer-down  (who  is  always  the  man  caught)  his  evi- 
dence will  not  have  weight  with  a  jury.  The  latest 
mode  is  for  the  forger  to  imitate  a  private  check  by 
the  photo-lithographic  method,  after  having  obtained 
a  signed  check. 

The  signature,  after  being  photographed,  is  care- 
fully traced  over  with  ink,  and  the  body  of  the  check 
is  filled  up  for  whatever  amount  is  desired.  The  maker 
of  the  check  is  requested  to  identify  the  person  who 
holds  it,  and  as  a  general  thing  he  does  not  wait  to  see 
the  money  paid.  The  moment  his  back  is  turned,  the 

68 


CHECK  AND  DRAFT  RAISERS 

layer-down  palms  the  small  check  and  presents  the 
large  one.  This  way  of  obtaining  money  is  without 
the  assistance  of  a  middle  man.  Private  marks  on  a 
check  are  no  safeguards  at  all,  although  a  great  many 
merchants  believe  they  can  prevent  forgery  by  making 
certain  dots,  or  seeming  slips  of  the  pen,  which  are 
known  only  to  the  paying  teller  and  themselves.  This 
precaution  becomes  useless  when  the  forger  uses  the 
camera.  Safe  breakers  are  often  called  upon  by  forg- 
ers and  asked  to  secure  a  sheet  of  checks  out  of  a  check- 
book. When  this  is  accomplished  a  few  canceled 
checks  are  taken  at  the  same  time.  These  are  given 
to  the  forger  and  he  fills  them  up  for  large  amounts, 
after  tracing  or  copying  the  signature.  The  safe  burg- 
lars receive  a  percentage  on  the  amount  realized.  If 
your  safe  vault  or  desk  is  broken  open,  where  your 
check-book  is  kept,  carefully  count  the  leaves  in  your 
check-book,  also  your  canceled  checks.  If  any  are 
missing,  notify  the  banks,  and  begin  using  a  different 
style  of  check  immediately.  The  sneak  thief,  while 
plying  his  trade,  often  secures  unsigned  bonds  of  some 
corporation  which  has  put  the  signed  bonds  in  circula- 
tion, leaving  the  rest  unsigned  until  the  next  meeting 
of  the  directors. 

Frequently  unsigned  bonds  are  left  in  the  bank  vault 
for  safe  keeping.  These  are  stolen  and  sent  to  the  pen- 
man or  "scratcher."  Then  a  genuine  signed  bond  is 
purchased,  from  which  the  signatures  are  copied  and 
then  forged.  The  same  trick  has  been  played  on  un- 
signed bank  notes,  but  on  the  bank  notes  almost  any 
name  will  do,  as  no  person  looks  at  the  signature,  as 
long  as  the  note  appears  genuine. 

The  ingenuity  of  a  countless  army  of  sharpers  is  con- 

69 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

stantly  at  work  in  this  country,  devising  plans  to  ob- 
tain funds  dishonestly,  without  work,  but,  in  fact, 
they  often  expend  more  time,  skill,  and  labor  in  carry- 
ing out  their  nefarious  schemes  than  would  serve  to 
earn  the  sum  they  finally  secure,  by  honest  labor. 
Every  banker  must,  therefore,  be  on  his  guard,  and 
should  acquaint  himself  with  the  most  approved  means 
of  detecting  and  avoiding  the  most  common  swindlers. 
This  is  just  as  necessary  as  it  is  to  lock  his  books  and 
cash  in  his  safe  before  going  home. 

Next  to  the  counterfeiter,  the  forger  is  the  most  dan- 
gerous criminal  in  business  life.  Transactions  involv- 
ing the  largest  sums  of  money  are  completed  on  the 
faith  in  the  genuineness  of  a  signature.  Hence  every 
effort  should  be  made  to  acquire  the  art  of  detecting  an 
imitation  at  a  glance.  This  can  be  done  only  by  con- 
siderable practice.  It  is  asserted  that  every  signature 
has  character  about  it  which  cannot  be  perfectly  cop- 
ied, and  which  can  always  be  detected  by  an  expe- 
rienced eye.  This  is  problematical,  but  certainly  a 
skilful  bank  teller  can  hardly  be  deceived  by  the  forg- 
ery of  a  name  of  a  well-known  depositor. 

A  banker  should  accustom  himself  to  scrutinize 
closely  the  signatures  of  those  with  whom  he  deals. 
He  should  cut  off  their  names  from  the  backs  of  checks 
and  notes,  and  paste  them  in  alphabetical  order  in  an 
autograph  book  devoted  to  that  purpose,  and  compare 
any  suspicious  signature  with  the  genuine  one. 

In  consequence  of  the  numerous  frauds  committed 
by  forged  checks,  some  of  the  European  bankers  have 
adopted  the  custom  of  sending  with  their  letter  of  ad- 
vice a  photograph  of  the  person  in  whose  favor  the 
credit  has  been  issued,  and  to  stop  the  payment  when 

70 


CHECK  AND  DRAFT  RAISERS 

the  person  who  presents  himself  at  the  bank  does  not 
resemble  the  picture.  If  this  practice  were  to  become 
universal,  the  object  of  preventing  frauds  could  be 
well  attained. 

Instead  of  the  signature  being  forged,  the  amount 
of  a  check,  etc.,  may  be  altered.  This  is  done  either 
by  changing  the  letters  and  figures,  or  by  the  use  of  an 
erasive  fluid.  The  perfection  with  which  the  latter 
alteration  can  be  performed  is  so  complete  that  the 
most  skilful  eye  cannot  detect  the  imposture.  A  per- 
son may  deposit  a  hundred  dollars  with  a  house  in 
New  York,  and  obtain  their  draft  for  that  amount  on 
Philadelphia;  he  then  alters  the  one  hundred  to  one 
thousand  by  erasing  a  portion  of  the  letters  and  figures 
and  cashes  the  draft  at  a  broker 's.  The  latter  recog- 
nizes the  signature,  and  has  no  suspicion  of  the  fraud 
until  too  late. 

The  means  to  secure  entire  protection  against  this 
is  by  using  an  ink  which  cannot  be  erased  by  chemi- 
cals, or  at  least  such  chemicals  as  are  familiarly  known 
to  the  class  of  criminals  who  make  this  a  specialty. 
Every  well-regulated  bank  now  uses  a  machine  for 
punching  or  perforating  a  series  of  small  holes  in  the 
check,  so  that  any  increase  or  decrease  of  the  number 
of  letters  written  is  immediately  detected. 

Many  banks  have  been  swindled  in  the  following 
manner:  A  check,  say  for  ten  dollars,  is  obtained 
from  a  depositor  of  a  bank,  and  a  blank  check  exactly 
like  the  filled-in  check  is  secured.  The  two  checks 
are  laid  one  upon  the  other,  so  that  the  edges  are 
exactly  even.  Both  checks  are  then  torn  irregularly 
across,  and  in  such  a  way  that  the  signature  on  the 
filled  check  appears  on  one  piece  and  the  amount  and 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

name  of  the  payee  on  the  other.  The  checks  having 
been  held  together  while  being  torn,  of  course  one 
piece  of  blank  check  will  exactly  fit  the  other  piece 
of  the  filled  check.  The  swindler  then  fills  in  one  piece 
of  the  blank  check  with  the  name  of  the  payee  and  an 
amount  to  suit  himself,  takes  it  with  the  piece  of  the 
genuine  check  containing  the  signature  to  the  bank, 
and  explains  that  the  check  was  accidently  torn.  The 
teller  can  put  the  pieces  together,  and  as  they  will  fit 
exactly,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  think  that  the 
pieces  are  parts  of  the  same  check,  and  becomes  a 
victim  of  the  swindle.  The  trick,  of  course,  suggests 
its  own  remedy. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  there  are  banks  in  the 
country  that  have  paid  thousands  of  dollars  on  raised 
checks,  and  decided  that  it  was  cheaper  for  them 
to  pocket  the  loss  than  to  have  the  facts  become 
known. 

The  New  York  Court  of  Appeals  holds  that  the  mak- 
er of  a  check  is  obliged  to  use  all  due  diligence  in  pro- 
tecting it,  and  the  omission  to  use  the  most  effectual 
protection  against  alterations  is  regarded  as  an  evidence 
of  neglect. 

Here  are  a  few  points  about  raising  checks  and  drafts 
that  should  be  carefully  noted:  To  successfully  raise 
a  check  or  draft  requires  so  much  less  skill  or  art  than 
to  accomplish  a  forgery  that  it  has  of  late  become 
alarmingly  prevalent.  Often  where  a  check  or  draft 
is  printed  on  ordinary  paper  the  original  figures  are 
removed  by  some  chemical  process  so  skilfully  that 
no  alteration  can  be  detected,  even  with  a  strong 
magnifying  glass. 

It  is  not  uncommon,  when  filling  up  checks  or 

72 


CHECK  AND  DRAFT  RAISERS 

drafts,  to  take  another  pen,  and  with  red  ink  write  the 
amount  across  the  face  of  the  paper,  and  again  make 
the  figures  in  and  through  the  signature.  All  these 
precautions  may  make  tampering  with  the  amount 
more  difficult  for  a  clumsy  novice,  but  it  only  imposes 
a  few  moments'  more  work  upon  the  accomplished 
manipulator.  He  takes  his  strong  solution  of  chloride 
of  lime  and  rain  water,  or  other  prepared  chemicals, 
and  with  a  pen  suited  to  the  purpose,  by  neutraliz- 
ing and  abstracting  the  coloring  properties  of  the  ink, 
he  carefully  obliterates  such  portions  of  the  lines  in 
the  figures  and  written  amounts  as  suits  his  purpose, 
then  easily  makes  the  alteration  he  desires,  the  red  ink 
coming  out  as  readily  as  black.  And  if  the  tint  or 
coloring  of  the  paper  should  have  been  affected  by  his 
cautious  touch,  he  takes  the  proper  shade  of  crayon 
or  water-color,  and  carefully  replaces  the  original 
shade. 

Now,  the  signature  not  being  touched,  but  remain- 
ing genuine,  and  the  payer  not  being  supposed  to 
know  who  wrote  the  check,  but  only  who  signed  it, 
he  pays  the  amount  specified,  and  the  law  holds  the 
"maker  of  the  check  responsible  when  there  is  nothing 
in  its  appearance  to  excite  suspicion,  and  the  signa- 
ture is  proven  genuine." 


73 


VII 

The  Handwriting  Expert 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE   HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

No  Law  Regulating  Experience  and  Skill  Necessary  to  Constitute 
An  Expert  —  Experts  Held  Competent  to  Testify  in  Court  — 
Bank  Officials  and  Employes  Favored  —  An  Expert  On  Signa- 
tures —  Methods  Experts  Employ  to  Identify  the  Work  of  the 
Pen  —  Where  and  When  an  Expert's  Services  Are  Needed  — 
Large  Field  and  Growing  Demand  for  Experts  —  Qualifications 
of  a  Handwriting  Expert  —  How  the  Work  Is  Done  —  A  Good 
Expert  Continuously  Employed  —  The  Expert  and  the  Charla- 
tan —  Qualifying  as  an  Expert  —  A  System  Which  Produces 
Results  —  Principal  Tests  Applied  by  Handwriting  Experts  to 
Determine  Genuineness  —  Identification  of  Individual  by  His 
Handwriting  —  How  to  Tell  Kind  of  Ink  and  Process  Used  to 
Forge  a  Writing  —  Rules  Followed  by  Experts  in  Determining 
Cases  —  The  Testimony  of  a  Handwriting  Expert  —  Explaining 
Methods  Employed  to  Detect  Forged  Handwriting  —  The 
Courts  and  Experts  —  What  an  Expert  May  Testify  to  — 
Trapping  a  Witness  —  Proving  Handwriting  by  Experts  — 
General  Laws  Regulating  Experts  —  The  Base  Work  of  a 
Handwriting  Expert  —  Important  Facts  an  Expert  Begins 
Examination  With  —  A  Few  Words  of  Advice  and  Suggestion 
About  "Pen  Scope"  —  Detection  of  Forgery  Easy  If  Rules 
Suggested  Are  Observed  —  Expert  Witnesses,  Courts,  and 
Jurors. 

There  is  no  rule  of  law  fixing  the  precise  amount  of 
experience  or  degree  of  skill  necessary  to  constitute  a 
handwriting  expert.  The  witness  need  not  be  en- 
gaged in  any  particular  business  or  claim  to  be  a 
professional  expert.  He  must,  however,  claim  to 
have  experience.  With  that  limitation,  cashiers,  pay- 
ing tellers,  other  bank  officers,  attorneys,  book- 
keepers, business  men,  conveyancers,  county  officials, 

77 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

photographers,  treasurers  and  clerks  of  railroads, 
etc.,  and  writing  teachers  have  in  various  cases  been 
held  competent  to  testify  as  an  expert.  And  it  has 
been  held  that  experience  with  handwriting  generally 
or  specially  will  enable  the  witness  to  testify  specially 
or  generally  thereto.  Bank  officials,  and  especially 
cashiers,  tellers,  and  book-keepers,  are  usually  regarded 
as  competent  by  most  courts  to  pass  authoritatively 
upon  handwriting. 

Generally  speaking,  the  witness  must  claim  to  be  an 
expert,  or  at  least  show  that  he  had  the  means  of 
gaining  experience.  He  need  not  claim  to  be  an 
expert,  but  he  must  claim  to  have  had  such  experi- 
ence as  will  make  him  feel  competent  to  express  an 
opinion. 

He  may  always  give  the  reasons  for  his  opinion, 
but  he  must  confine  his  testimony  to  his  opinion  based 
on  the  handwriting  itself,  and  not  as  affected  by  the 
facts  of  the  case.  He  cannot  state  any  inferences  de- 
duced from  the  facts.  He  must  also  testify  himself. 
Evidence  of  what  an  expert  has  said  with  reference 
to  a  writing  is  inadmissible  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
that  opinion  before  the  court. 

An  expert  may  be  tested  with  other  papers  in  the 
case,  but  not  with  irrelevant  papers,  and  the  whole  of 
the  test  paper  must  be  shown  him.  He  is  entitled  to 
see  it  all. 

Letter-press  copies  and  duplicates  made  by  writing 
machines  are  not  originals  and  therefore  cannot  be 
used  as  a  standard  of  comparison. 

An  expert  cannot  give  an  opinion  as  to  the  genuine- 
ness of  a  signature  based  upon  a  comparison  thereof 
with  signatures  not  before  the  court. 

78 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

The  standard  of  comparison  used  by  the  expert 
must  be  produced  in  court.  Photographic  copies 
are  admissible  when  accompanied  by  the  originals. 
When  original  writings  are  in  evidence  and  the  gen- 
uineness thereof  disputed,  magnified  photographic 
copies  of  the  writing  and  of  admitted  genuine  writings 
are  admissible  in  evidence,  for  comparison  by  jury  or 
expert  when  accompanied  by  competent  preliminary 
proof  that  the  copies  are  accurate  in  all  respects  ex- 
cept as  to  size  and  color. 

The  services  of  the  expert  are  required  in  a  wide 
range  of  civil  and  criminal  cases.  Where  hand- 
writing is  questioned  on  notes,  checks,  drafts,  receipts, 
wills,  deeds,  mortgages,  bonds,  anonymous  letters, 
money  orders,  registered  letter  receipts,  letters,  pen- 
sion papers,  and  in  smuggling,  and  in  short,  on  any 
kind  of  document  where  it  becomes  necessary  to 
establish  the  identity  of  the  writer,  the  expert  is  called 
in.  Life,  liberty,  honor,  and  property  are  frequently 
balanced  on  a  pen  point  —  a  few  marks  of  the  pen 
being  the  determining  feature  of  many  a  case. 

The  handwriting  of  the  schoolboy  and  schoolgirl, 
though  crude,  is  conventional  and  idealized.  It  has 
but  few  characteristics  so  long  as  the  school  model  or 
copy-book  hand  is  the  goal.  The  pupil  gives  con- 
stant attention  to  the  handwriting  as  well  as  to  the 
thought.  A  number  of  students  of  about  the  same 
grade,  under  the  same  teacher,  will  write  much  alike. 
Fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  students  could  each  write 
a  line  on  a  page  and  it  might  baffle  a  layman,  and 
perhaps  puzzle  an  expert,  to  tell  whether  or  not  more 
than  one  person  wrote  the  page.  This  constant  striv- 
ing after  one  ideal,  and  putting  thought  on  the 

79 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

handwriting,  had  drawn  them  all  toward  that  ideal 
and  away  from  individuality. 

The  employment  of  professional  handwriting  ex- 
perts as  witnesses  in  court  cases  that  often  involve 
enormous  sums  of  money,  or  the  liberty  or  even  the 
lives  of  suspected  malefactors,  has  awakened  wide- 
spread interest  in  the  methods  of  this  class  of  experts, 
their  resources  and  capabilities  in  conserving  the  ends 
of  justice. 

Many  uninformed  people  appear  to  look  on  the  hand- 
writing expert  as  one  who,  by  intuition  or  the  posses- 
sion of  some  mysterious  occult  power,  is  enabled  to 
distinguish  at  a  glance  the  true  and  the  spurious  in 
any  questioned  handwriting.  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  the  fact. 

The  secret  of  his  power  —  as  in  any  other  line  of 
scientific  research  —  lies  wholly  in  his  intimate  famil- 
iarity with  the  innumerable  physical  details  which  com- 
prise the  written  line  or  word  or  letter  —  sometimes  so 
slight  a  matter  as  the  dotting  of  an  i  or  the  placing  of 
a  comma.  It  is  precisely  the  same  specialized  sense, 
born  of  acute  observation  and  minute  scrutiny  that 
enables  an  expert  chemist  to  take  two  powders  of  like 
weight  and  color,  identical  in  appearance  to  the  com- 
mon eye  and  perhaps  in  taste  to  the  common  palate, 
and  say :  This  drug  is  harmless,  wholesome ;  that  is 
a  deadly  poison — and  to  specify  not  only  their  vari- 
ous individual  constituents  but  the  exact  proportion 
of  each.  The  trained  eye  of  the  handwriting  expert 
(as  in  another  case  could  that  of  the  expert  chemist) 
can  often  detect  at  a  glance  certain  distinguishing 
earmarks  of  submitted  writing  that  enable  him  to  fix 
the  identity  of  the  writer  almost  off-hand.  In  the 

80 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

the  great  majority  of  cases,  however,  the  cunning  of 
the  forger  calls  for  deliberate,  painstaking  study  and 
investigation  before  the  conscientious  expert  is  willing 
to  announce  with  absolute  surety  an  opinion  so  often 
fraught  with  tremendous  possibilities  for  good  or  for 
evil. 

Nothing  else  that  a  person  does  is  so  characteristic 
as  the  handwriting,  and  the  identification  of  the  indi- 
vidual can  be  established  by  it  better  than  by  por- 
traits or  almost  any  other  means.  As  lawyers  and 
laymen  and  courts  are  finding  this  out,  the  hand- 
writing expert  is  more  and  more  called  upon  to  un- 
tangle snarled  questions  and  to  right  wrongs. 

It  is  only  when  attention  is  directed  to  this  inter- 
esting science  by  the  wide  publicity  given  to  some 
great  case  in  which  handwriting  plays  an  important 
part  that  the  notice  of  the  general  public  is  drawn  to 
it.  The  average  person  would  be  surprised  to  know 
of  the  great  number  of  cases  that  find  their  way  to  the 
office  of  the  handwriting  expert.  The  man  who  has 
made  a  success  in  this  line  is  constantly  in  demand, 
and  makes  frequent  trips  to  distant  points  to  appear 
as  witness  in  courts. 

Though  nearly  every  large  town  has  some  one  who 
devotes  some  attention  to  handwriting,  there  are  but 
five  or  six  men  in  this  country  who  give  to  it  practi- 
cally all  of  their  time,  and  who  have  gone  very 
deeply  into  the  subject. 

To  allow  any  person  to  qualify  as  an  "expert"  and 
to  testify  as  such  is  a  matter  wholly  within  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  court.  Unfortunately,  courts  frequently 
are  lax  in  determining  this  question.  Almost  any  one 
who  can  write  is  permitted  to  give  alleged  "expert" 

81 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

testimony  regarding  handwriting.  In  one  well-known 
case,  a  case,  too,  involving  life  and  death  —  the  court 
unwittingly  accepted  the  "expert"  testimony  of  a 
witness  who,  it  was  afterward  proven,  was  unable  to 
write  even  so  much  as  his  own  name.  In  the  litiga- 
tion attending  the  disposal  of  large  mining  inter- 
ests held  at  Butte,  Montana,  the  court  permitted  tes- 
timony in  regard  to  the  handwriting  of  the  testator 
from  a  witness  who  admitted  that  he  had  seen  the 
testator  write  but  once,  and  that  in  lead  pencil  over 
twenty  years  before. 

Any  one  accustomed  to  writing  is  usually  allowed 
to  qualify  as  an  "  expert."  To  the  lay  mind  it  is  nat- 
ural to  confound  experts  who  have  studied  the  subject 
deeply  in  all  its  various  phases  with  those  who  have  had 
occasion  to  examine  it  casually,  or  who  may  possess 
uncommon  facility  with  the  pen  without  ever  having 
had  occasion  to  investigate  scientifically  just  those 
little  illusive  points  upon  which  the  professional  ex- 
pert places  his  reliance. 

Hence,  when  we  read  of  "experts  "  being  mistaken, 
or  of  an  equal  number  of  them  appearing  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  same  case,  it  will  nearly  always  be  found 
upon  investigation  that  they  are  of  the  class  described 
above,  whose  lack  of  thorough  special  training  and 
specialized  experience  really  should  have  disqualified 
them  from  giving  testimony.  Though  any  one  may 
call  himself  an  "expert,"  or  a  "professional  expert," 
for  that  matter,  thus  opening  the  door  to  charlatan- 
ism in  exactly  the  same  manner  that  it  is  opened 
more  or  less  in  all  vocations,  yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  is  very  rare  that  professional  handwriting  experts 
testify  to  a  contrary  state  of  facts,  and  the  cases  in 

82 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

which  they  have  been  proven  mistaken  are  remark- 
ably few. 

Experts  who  have  a  natural  aptitude  coupled  with 
experience  that  produces  skill  are  able,  by  a  system 
which  they  have  reduced  to  a  science,  to  detect  the 
spurious  from  the  genuine  handwriting  with  almost 
unvarying  success.  But  their  conclusions  are  not 
reached  by  second  sight  or  sleight-of-hand  methods, 
but  rather  by  painstaking,  scientific  investigation. 

Some  of  the  principal  tests  applied  to  determme  the 
genuineness  of  handwriting  are  these :  The  actual  and 
relative  slant  of  the  letters  or  the  angles  between  their 
stems  and  the  base;  the  constancy  and  accuracy 
with  which  a  straight  line  is  followed  as  a  base;  the 
amount  of  pressure  used  on  the  pen  and  the  part  of  the 
stroke  where  it  is  applied,  and  the  positions  of  the  line 
as  a  whole  relative  to  the  edges  of  the  paper.  The 
simplest  punctuation  mark  under  the  microscope  has 
its  own  individuality.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find 
two  writers  whose  semicolons  and  quotation  marks 
cannot  be  distinguished  at  a  glance.  The  dotting  of 
the  i  and  crossing  of  the  t  afford  an  infinite  number 
of  relations  between  points  and  lines,  and  in  both  of 
these  the  time  element  and  the  freedom  of  muscular 
movement  play  important  parts.  Even  the  health 
and  self-control  of  the  penman,  as  well  as  the  physical 
circumstances,  show  their  influence  on  these  little 
strokes. 

The  identification  of  the  individual  by  means  of 
his  handwriting  is  of  great  value  in  legal  trials  and  out- 
side of  courts.  Its  use  cannot  be  dispensed  with  any 
more  than  can  the  knowledge  obtained  in  any  other 
line  of  science. 

83 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

One  often  hears  a  man  boast  of  his  ability  to  suc- 
cessfully duplicate  another  person's  signature  or  hand- 
writing, and  to  the  casual  observer  the  counterfeit 
really  'will  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  original. 
However,  let  the  two  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  an 
expert  on  disputed  handwriting  and  he  will  pretty 
quickly  determine  which  is  the  original  and  which 
the  forgery.  Furthermore,  he  will  tell  you  what 
process  was  used  to  make  the  duplicate,  for  there  are 
several  methods  in  use  among  forgers,  and  can  even 
tell  the  composition  of  the  ink. 

In  the  determination  of  any  handwriting  there  is 
no  actual  rule  to  guide  an  expert,  as  each  case  must  be 
a  law  unto  itself.  The  time  of  day  that  the  signature 
was  made  and  the  condition  for  the  moment  of  the 
individual  have  considerable  bearing  on  the  case,  as 
has  also  the  writer's  general  physical  condition. 
Whether  he  was  standing  or  sitting  when  the  signa- 
ture was  made  is  a  matter  of  importance.  The  qual- 
ity of  the  paper  and  the  make  of  the  pen  also  have  to 
be  taken  into  consideration.  In  the  case  of  forgery, 
where  the  forger  has  employed  a  finger  movement 
writing  with  the  muscles  and  apparently  without  edu- 
cation, there  is  scarcely  any  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a 
conclusion.  The  long  flowing  hand  is  easy  to  detect. 
When,  however,  the  writing  is  finical  a  large  mass  of 
material  has  to  be  examined  before  a  decision  can 
be  reached. 

The  testimony  of  an  expert  is  without  doubt  the 
most  dangerous  kind  of  evidence  when  not  supported 
by  additional  testimony;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
the  known  facts  fit  in  well,  it  is  the  strongest  kind  of 
testimony  that  can  be  submitted,  and  is  usually 

84 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

known  as  "opinioned  evidence."  There  probably  is 
no  class  of  professional  witnesses  which  is  subjected 
to  such  severe  cross-examination  as  experts  in  hand- 
writing, and,  considering  the  great  importance  of 
their  testimony,  they  should  be  ever  ready  and  willing 
to  explain  the  methods  employed  by  them  in  arriving 
at  their  decision,  which,  of  course,  is  the  result  of  a 
comparison  of  the  analyses  of  several  pieces  of  writing, 
taking  account  of  all  exaggerations,  idiosyncrasies 
and  unusual  peculiarities. 

All  evidence  of  handwriting,  except  where  the  wit- 
ness has  seen  the  writing  in  question  written,  is  de- 
rived from  four  sources:  First,  from  comparison; 
second,  from  the  internal  evidence  of  the  writing  it- 
self; third,  from  the  knowledge  of  the  writing,  from 
having  frequently  seen  a  person  write;  fourth,  where 
one  has  received  letters  whose  authorship  has  been 
subsequently  verified  by  admission,  or  acted  upon  in 
such  manner  as  to  receive  the  approval  of  the  writer. 
Comparison  is  made  between  the  writing  in  question 
and  other  writing  admitted  by  the  writer  to  be  gen- 
uine, or  otherwise  proved  to  be  so  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  court. 

The  evidence  adduced  from  comparison  is  more  or 
less  certain  according  to  the  skill  of  the  expert  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  case.  Internal  evidence  is  such 
as  is  presented  by  the  peculiar  quality  of  lines  when 
drawn  or  worked  up  by  slowly  following  traced  lines, 
retouched  shades,  rubbered  surface  of  the  paper,  and 
every  indication  of  an  artificial  or  mechanical  process 
of  producing  writing. 

Testimony  based  upon  a  knowledge  of  writing 
gained  from  having  at  some  time  seen  a  person  write 

85 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

is  the  most  fallacious  of  all  testimony  respecting 
handwriting;  it  can  be  only  a  mental  comparison  of 
writing  in  question  with  such  a  vague  idea  or  mental 
picture  as  may  remain  from  a  casual  view  of  the  writing 
at  some  time  more  or  less  remote;  and  besides,  one 
may  perceive  another  in  the  act  of  writing  and  yet 
have  little  or  no  opportunity  of  forming  any  mental 
conception  of  it,  even  at  the  time  of  writing. 

In  some  cases  where  the  courts  will  permit  it  the 
expert  witness  may  fully  explain  upon  what  he  bases 
his  opinion  but  it  oftener  occurs  that  the  trial  judge 
will  limit  the  evidence  down  to  the  very  narrow  scope 
and  the  mere  relation  of  such  facts  as  the  jury  can  see. 
Where  a  forgery  is  well  executed  the  difference  in 
general  appearance  between  it  and  the  genuine  writ- 
ing of  the  person  whose  signature  is  questioned,  when 
compared,  is  very  small.  The  limit  put  upon  expert 
evidence  by  the  trial  judge  takes  from  the  effect  of 
the  testimony  all  the  benefit  of  an  explanation  of  the 
facts  upon  which  the  opinion  is  founded. 

Juries  are  generally  allowed  to  examine  enlarged 
photographs  of  the  writing,  and  sometimes  to  see  it 
under  the  microscope,  but  even  when  so  doing  what 
they  see  unexplained  cannot  be  appreciated  intelli- 
gently and  unless  taken  for  granted  as  meaning  some- 
thing which  the  experience  of  the  expert  who  gives 
the  opinion  understands,  and  which  they  without  such 
an  education,  could  not  be  expected  to  understand  that 
which  the  photographs  show  and  the  microscope  makes 
visible  is  just  as  likely  to  be  misleading  as  otherwise. 

An  expert  may  testify  as  to  the  characteristics  of 
the  handwriting  in  question;  as  to  whether  the  writ- 
ing is  natural  or  feigned,  or  was  or  was  not  written  at 

86 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

the  same  time,  with  the  same  pen  and  ink,  and  by  the 
same  person,  and  as  to  alterations  or  erasures  there- 
in ;  and  as  to  the  age  of  the  writing  and  obscurities 
therein ;  the  result  of  his  examination  of  the  writing 
under  a  magnifying  glass;  and  to  prove  in  some 
cases  the  standard  of  comparison. 

In  the  United  States  a  witness  may  be  asked  to 
write  on  cross-examination,  but  not  in  direct. 

Before  a  paper  can  be  accepted  as  a  standard  of 
comparison  it  must  be  proved  to  be  genuine  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  judge.  His  decision  on  this  ques- 
tion is  final  if  supported  by  proper  evidence.  In  some 
states  the  question  of  genuineness  is  for  the  jury. 

A  party  denying  his  handwriting  may  be  asked  on 
cross-examination,  if  his  signature  to  another  instru- 
ment is  genuine.  This  is  the  test  which  niay  be  suc- 
cessfully applied  to  ascertain  if  the  signature  is  genuine. 
A  plaintiff,  on  one  occasion,  denied  most  positively 
that  a  receipt  produced  was  in  his  handwriting.  It 
was  thus  worded,  "Received  the  Hole  of  the  above." 
On  being  asked  to  write  a  sentence  in  which  the  word 
"whole"  was  introduced,  he  took  evident  pains  to 
disguise  his  handwriting,  but  he  adopted  the  pho- 
netic style  of  spelling,  and  also  persisted  in  using  the 
capital  H. 

The  practice  of  thus  testing  a  witness  is  vindicated 
by  one  of  the  most  sagacious  of  German  jurists,  Mit- 
termaier,  on  grounds  not  only  of  expediency,  but  of 
authority. 

Comparison  of  handwriting,  either  by  jury  or  wit- 
ness, is  uniformly  allowed  to  prove  writings  which  are 
not  old  enough  to  prove  themselves,  but  are  too  old 
to  admit  of  direct  proof  of  their  genuineness. 

87 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

Handwriting,  considered  tinder  the  law  of  evidence, 
includes  not  only  the  ordinary  writing  of  one  able  to 
write,  but  also  writing  done  in  a  disguised  hand,  or  in 
cipher,  and  a  mark  made  by  one  able  or  unable  to 
write. 

The  principles  regulating  the  proof  of  handwriting 
apply  equally  to  civil  and  criminal  cases. 

The  paper  the  handwriting  of  which  is  sought  to 
be  proved  by  experts  must  ordinarily  be  produced  in 
court,  but  such  production  will  be  excused  when  the 
paper  has  been  lost  or  destroyed  and  when  it  is  a 
public  record,  which  cannot  be  brought  into  court. 

Genuineness  may  be  proved  in  all  cases,  except 
where  paper  is  required  to  be  identified  by  an  official 
seal,  and  except  as  controlled  by  law  applicable  to 
attested  instruments. 

It  may  be  proved  by  his  own  admissions ;  by  wit- 
nesses who  saw  the  party  write ;  by  witnesses  who  cor- 
responded with  the  party;  by  witnesses  who  had  seen 
papers  acknowledged  by  the  party ;  by  witnesses  hav- 
ing personal  relations  with  the  party. 

Comparison  of  handwriting,  technically  called  pre- 
sumptio  ex  scripto  nunv  visa,  is  where  a  paper  or 
papers  are  proved  or  admitted  to  be  in  a  party's 
handwriting,  and  a  witness  entirely  unacquainted  with 
the  party's  handwriting,  or  the  jury,  is  allowed  to 
make  a  comparison  by  juxtaposition  of  the  writing  so 
proved  or  admitted,  and  the  writing  disputed. 

All  evidence  of  handwriting,  except  where  the  wit- 
ness sees  the  documents  written,  is  in  its  nature  com- 
parison. It  is  the  belief  which  a  witness  entertains 
upon  comparing  the  writing  in  question  with  an  exem- 
plar in  his  mind  derived  from  some  previous  writing. 

88 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

In  all  the  states  of  the  Union  the  laws  are  uniform 
on  the  proposition  that  experts  may  testify  as  to  com- 
parisons made  and  the  results  based  on  such  com- 
parisons, except  that  the  paper  admitted  to  be  gen- 
uine shall  not  contain  matter  of  a  frivolous  nature, 
etc. 

In  a  broad,  general  way  the  element  of  common 
sense  is  the  basework  of  an  expert's  success  in  the 
business.  He  cannot  depend  upon  anything  suggest- 
ing intuition.  Where  two  signatures  or  two  speci- 
mens of  writing  are  in  question  and  one  exhibit  is  a 
forgery  and  the  other  is  genuine,  or  where  both  are 
genuine,  yet  in  question,  the  expert  is  in  the  position 
of  making  his  proofs  and  demonstrations  convincing 
to  the  layman  —  the  hard  headed  citizen  who  insists 
that  "you  show  me."  Frequently  this  citizen  is  on 
a  jury  where  he  has  had  to  admit  that  he  is  not  par- 
ticularly intelligent  before  he  would  be  accepted  for 
the  place. 

As  a  first  proposition  to  such  a  man,  however,  the 
expert  in  chirography  may  put  him  to  the  proof 
that  out  of  a  dozen  signatures  of  his  own  name  no 
two  will  be  alike  in  general  form.  Then  he  may  turn 
to  the  authentic  and  forged  signatures  in  almost  any 
case  and  show  to  the  layman  that  the  first  question 
of  forgery  arose  from  the  fact  that  these  two  signa- 
tures at  a  first  glance  are  identically  alike  to  almost 
the  minutest  detail.  With  all  the  skill  which  the 
forger  has  put  into  his  crooked  work,  he  keeps  to 
the  old  principle  of  copying  the  authentic  signature 
which  he  has  in  hand,  and  the  more  nearly  he  can 
reproduce  this  signature  in  every  proportion  the  more 
readily  the  forgery  can  be  proved. 

89 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

One  of  the  most  important  facts  from  which  the 
expert  may  begin  his  investigations  of  possible  for- 
gery is  that  every  man  using  a  pen  in  writing  has  his 
"pen  scope."  This  technical  term  describes  the  aver- 
age stretch  of  paper  which  a  man  may  cover  without 
lifting  the  pen  from  the  paper  and  shifting  his  hand 
to  continue  the  line.  In  even  the  freest,  swinging 
movements  of  a  pen  where  the  hand  follows  the  pen 
fingers,  there  are  occasional  breaks  in  the  lettering 
or  undue  stretch  of  space  between  the  words  which 
will  indicate  a  characteristic  scope  of  the  pen  if  the 
specimens  under  investigation  cover  an  ordinary  para- 
graph in  length. 

As  applied  to  the  signatures  of  the  ordinary  indi- 
vidual, this  pen  scope  will  appear  in  some  form  in  the 
signature.  The  writer  may  lift  his  pen  before  he  has 
spelled  out  a  long  Christian  or  surname,  he  may  indi- 
cate it  in  the  placing  of  a  middle  initial  or  in  the  space 
which  lies  between  the  initial  and  the  last  name.  In 
the  case  of  the  signature  of  one's  name,  too,  it  should 
be  one  of  the  easiest  and  lest-studied  group  of  words 
which  he  is  called  on  to  put  upon  paper.  In  writing 
a  letter,  for  example,  the  pen  scope  through  it  may 
show  an  average  stretch  of  one  inch  for  the  text  of 
the  letter,  while  in  the  signature  the  whole  length  of 
the  signature  twice  as  long,  may  be  covered.  But  if 
the  writer  covers  this  full  stretch  of  his  name  in  this 
way  the  expert  may  prove  by  the  necessary  short  pen 
scope  of  the  copyist  that  the  studied  copy  is  a  for- 
gery on  its  face.  For  however  free  of  pen  stroke  the 
forger  may  be  naturally,  his  attempts  to  produce  a 
facsimile  of  the  signature  shortens  it  beyond  the  scope 
of  the  original  signer. 

90 


THE  HANDWRITING  EXPERT 

If  a  search  be  made  through  a  series  of  undispu- 
tedly  genuine  signatures,  it  will  be  found  that  one  char- 
acteristic fails  in  one  and  another  in  another.  Here 
is  where  the  handwriting  expert  makes  his  service 
valuable.  He  studies  all  these  important  points, 
and  is  not  long  in  arriving  at  a  successful  conclusion. 

The  introduction  of  the  experimental  method  into 
all  modern  investigation  has  led  to  the  hope  that  in 
this  difficult  subject  means  will  be  found  to  introduce 
simpler  forms  of  determining  regular  or  irregular 
handwriting. 

As  long  as  the  steps  by  which  experts  reach  their 
conclusions  are  so  intricate  or  recondite  that  only  the 
results  may  be  stated  to  the  jury,  just  so  long  will  the 
character  of  expert  testimony  suffer  in  the  opinion  of 
the  public,  and  the  insulting  charge  against  it  be  re- 
peated that  any  side  can  hire  an  expert  to  support 
its  case. 

If  a  single  competent  expert  could  be  selected  by 
the  court  to  take  up  questions  of  this  kind  and  lay  his 
results  before  it,  the  present  system  would  be  less  ob- 
jectionable than  it  is.  Nevertheless,  this  solution  is 
probably  not  the  best,  because  no  man  is  capable  of 
always  observing  and  judging  correctly,  and  the  most 
careful  man  may  be  led  astray  by  elements  in  the 
problem  before  him  of  which  he  does  not  suspect  the 
existence.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  fairer  and 
less  open  to  objection  if  a  plan  of  investigation  were 
followed  which  can  be  clearly  explained  to  those  who 
are  to  decide  a  case  and  the  resulting  data  left  in 
their  hands  to  assist  them  in  their  decision. 

In  such  a  manner  of  presentation,  if  any  important 
data  have  been  omitted,  or  if  the  premises  do  not 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

warrant  the  conclusion,  the  errors  can  be  detected 
without  accusing  the  expert  of  lack  of  good  faith  or 
ignorance  of  his  subject.  The  fact  that  he  has  testi- 
fied in  hundreds  of  cases  and  in  every  court  in  the 
world  should  not  be  allowed  to  influence  the  jury 
against  a  logical  conclusion  drawn  from  uncontro- 
verted  facts. 


92 


VIII 
How  to  Detect  Forged  Handwriting 


CHAPTER  VIII 
HOW  TO   DETECT   FORGED   HANDWRITING 

Frequency  of  Litigation  Arising  Over  Disputed  Handwriting  — 
Forged  and  Fictitious  Claims  Against  the  Estates  of  Deceased 
People  —  Forgery  Certain  to  Be  Detected  When  Subjected  to 
Skilled  Expert  Examination  —  A  Forger's  Tracks  Cannot  Be 
Successfully  Covered  —  With  Modern  Devices  Fraudulent, 
Forged  and  Simulated  Writing  Can  Be  Determined  beyond  the 
Possibility  of  a  Mistake  —  Bank  Officials  and  Disputed  Hand- 
writing —  How  to  Test  and  Determine  Genuine  and  Forged 
Signatures  —  Useful  Information  About  Signature  Writing  — 
Guard  Against  An  Illegible  Signature  —  Avoid  Gyrations, 
Whirls  and  Flourishes  —  Write  Plain,  Distinct  and  Legible  — 
The  Signature  to  Adopt  —  The  People  Forgers  Pass  By  —  How 
to  Imitate  Successfully  —  How  an  Expert  Detects  Forged  Hand- 
writing —  Examples  of  Signatures  Forgers  Desire  to  Imitate  — 
Examining  and  Determining  a  Forgery  —  Comparisons  of 
Disputed  Handwriting  —  Microscopic  Examinations  a  Great 
Help  in  Detecting  Forged  Handwriting — Comparison  of  Forged 
Handwriting. 

Few  persons  outside  of  the  banking  and  legal  fra- 
ternity are  aware  of  the  frequency  with  which  litigations 
arise  from  one  or  another  of  the  many  phases  of  dis- 
puted handwriting;  doubtless  most  frequently  from 
that  of  signatures  to  the  various  forms  of  commercial 
obligations  or  other  instruments  conveying  title  to 
property,  such  as  notes,  checks,  drafts,  deeds,  wills, 
etc.  To  a  less  extent  the  disputed  portions  involve 
alterations  of  books  of  account  and  other  writings, 
by  erasure,  addition,  interlineation,  etc.,  while  some- 
times the  trouble  comes  in  the  form  of  disguised  of 
simulated  writings.  A  disproportionately  large  num- 
ber of  these  cases  arise  from  forged  and  fictitious 

95 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

claims  against  the  estates  of  deceased  people.  This 
results,  first,  from  the  fact  that  such  claims  are  more 
easily  established,  as  there  is  usually  no  one  by  whom 
they  can  be  directly  contradicted;  and,  secondly,  for 
the  reason  that  adminstrators  are  less  liable  to  exer- 
cise the  highest  degree  of  caution  than  are  persons  who 
pay  out  their  own  money. 

In  all  instances  where  a  forgery  extends  to  the  man- 
ufacturing of  any  considerable  piece  of  writing,  it  is 
certain  of  being  detected  and  demonstrated  when  sub- 
jected to  a  skilled  expert  examination ;  but  where  for- 
gery is  confined  to  a  single  signature,  and  that  perhaps 
of  such  a  character  as  to  be  easily  simulated,  detection 
is  ofttimes  difficult,  and  expert  demonstrations  less 
certain  or  convincing.  Yet  instances  are  rare  in 
which  the  forger  of  even  a  signature  does  not  leave 
some  unconscious  traces  that  will  betray  him  to  the 
ordinary  expert,  while  in  most  instances  forgery  will 
be  at  once  so  apparent  to  an  expert  as  to  admit  of  a 
demonstration  more  trustworthy  and  convincing  to 
court  and  jury  than  is  the  testimony  of  witnesses  to 
alleged  facts,  who  may  be  deceived,  or  even  lie.  The 
unconscious  tracks  of  the  forger,  however,  cannot  be 
bribed  or  made  to  lie,  and  they  often  speak  in  a  lan- 
guage so  unmistakable  as  to  utterly  defy  contro version. 

Note  illustrations  of  forged  handwriting  in  Appendix 
at  end  of  this  book. 

With  the  present-day  knowledge  of  writing  in  its 
various  phases,  the  identity  of  forged,  fraudulent  or 
simulated  writing  can  be  determined  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  mistake.  Every  year  sees  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  important  civil  and  criminal  cases  that 
turn  on  questions  of  disputed  handwriting. 

96 


TO  DETECT  FORGED  HANDWRITING 

There  is  not  a  day  in  the  year  but  what  bank  offi- 
cials are  at  sea  over  a  disputed  signature  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  how  to  test  and  determine  genuine  and  forged 
signatures  will  prove  of  inestimable  value  to  the  bank- 
ing and  business  world. 

Forgery  is  easy.  Detection  is  difficult.  As  the 
rewards  for  the  successful  forgers  are  great,  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  forged  checks,  notes,  drafts,  wills, 
deeds,  receipts  and  all  kinds  of  commercial  papers  are 
produced  in  the  United  States  every  year.  Many  are 
litigated,  but  many  more  are  never  discovered. 

Practical  and  useful  information  about  signature 
writing  and  how  to  safeguard  one's  signature  against 
forgery  is  something  that  will  be  welcomed  by  those 
who  are  constantly  attaching  their  names  to  valuable 
papers. 

Every  man  should  guard  against  an  illegible  sig- 
nature —  for  example,  a  series  of  meaningless  pen 
tracks  with  outlandish  flourishes,  such  as  are  assumed 
by  many  people  with  the  feeling  that  because  no  one 
can  read  them,  they  cannot  be  successfully  imitated. 
Experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  easiest  signa- 
tures to  successfully  forge  are  those  that  are  illegible, 
either  from  design  or  accident.  The  banker  or  busi- 
ness man  who  sends  his  pen  through  a  series  of  gyra- 
tions, whirls,  flourishes  and  twists  and  calls  it  a  signa- 
ture is  making  it  easy  for  a  forger  to  reproduce  his 
signature,  for  it  is  a  jumble  of  letters  and  ink  abso- 
lutely illegible  and  easy  of  simulation.  Every  man 
should  learn  to  write  plain,  distinct  and  legible. 

The  only  signature  to  adopt  is  one  that  is  per- 
fectly legible,  clear  and  written  rapidly  with  the  fore- 
arm or  muscular  movement.  One  of  the  best  preven- 

97 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

tatives  of  forgery  is  to  write  the  initials  of  the  name 
-  that  is,  write  them  in  combination  —  without 
lifting  the  pen.  It  will  help  if  the  small  letters  are  all 
connected  with  each  other  and  with  the  capitals. 
Select  a  style  of  capital  letters  and  always  use  them; 
study  out  a  plain  combination  of  them;  practice 
writing  until  it  can  be  written  easily  and  rapidly  and 
stick  to  it.  Don't  confuse  your  banker  by  changing 
the  form  of  a  letter  or  adding  flourishes.  Countless 
repetitons  will  give  a  facility  in  writing  it  that  will 
lend  a  grace  and  charm  and  will  stamp  it  with  your 
peculiar  characteristics  in  such  a  way  that  the  for- 
ger will  pass  you  by  when  looking  for  an  "  easy  mark." 
Plain  signatures  of  the  character  noted  above  are  not 
the  ones  usually  selected  by  forgers  for  simulation. 
Forgers  are  always  hunting  for  the  illegible  as  in  it 
they  can  best  hide  their  identity. 

It  is  said  to  be  an  utter  impossibility  for  one  per- 
son to  imitate  successfully  a  page  of  writing  of  another. 
The  person  attempting  the  forgery  should  be  able  to 
accomplish  the  following :  First,  he  must  know  all  the 
characteristics  of  his  own  hand;  second,  he  must  be 
able  to  kill  all  the  characteristics  of  his  own  hand ;  third, 
he  must  know  all  of  the  characteristics  in  the  hand  he 
is  imitating;  fourth,  he  must  be  able  to  assume  char- 
acteristics of  the  other's  hand  at  will.  These  four 
points  are  insuperable  obstacles,  and  the  forger  does 
not  live  who  has  surmounted  or  can  surmount  them. 

To  understand  the  principles  on  which  an  expert  in 
handwriting  bases  his  work,  consider  for  a  moment 
how  a  person's  style  of  writing  is  developed.  He 
begins  by  copying  the  forms  set  for  him  by  a  teacher. 
He  approximates  more  or  less  closely  to  these  forms. 

98 


His  handwriting  is  set,  formal,  and  without  character. 
As  soon  as  he  leaves  off  following  the  copy  book,  how- 
ever, his  writing  begins  to  take  on  individaul  char- 
acteristics. These  are  for  the  most  part  unconscious. 
He  thinks  of  what  he  is  writing,  not  how.  In  time 
these  peculiarities,  which  creep  gradually  into  a  man's 
writing,  become  fixed  habits.  By  the  time  he  is,  say, 
twenty -five  years  old,  his  writing  is  settled.  After  that 
it  may  vary,  may  grow  better  or  worse,  but  is  certain 
to  retain  those  distinguishing  marks  which,  in  the 
man  himself,  we  call  personality.  This  personality  re- 
mains. He  cannot  disguise  it,  except  in  a  superficial 
way,  any  more  than  he  can  change  his  own  character. 

It  follows  that  no  two  persons  write  exactly  the 
same  hands.  It  is  easy  to  illustrate  this.  Suppose, 
for  example,  that  among  10,000  persons  there  is  one 
hunchback,  one  minus  his  right  leg,  one  with  an  eye 
missing,  one  bereft  of  a  left  arm,  one  with  a  broken 
nose.  To  find  a  person  with  two  of  these  would  re- 
quire, probably,  100,000  people;  three  of  them,i,ooo, 
ooo;  four  of  them,  100,000,000.  One  possessing  all 
of  them  might  not  be  found  in  the  entire  14,000,000,- 
ooo  people  on  earth.  Precisely  the  same  with  different 
handwritings — the  peculiar  and  distinguishing  char- 
acteristics of  one  would  no  more  be  present  in  others 
than  would  the  personal  counterparts  of  the  authors 
be  found  in  other  individuals. 

It  is  more  surprising,  at  first  thought,  to  be  told 
that  no  person  ever  signs  his  name  even  twice  alike. 
Of  course,  theoretically,  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  is 
impossible  for  a  person  to  write  his  name  twice 
in  exactly  the  same  manner.  A  person  casting  dice 
might  throw  double  aces  a  hundred  times  consecu- 

99 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

tively.  But  who  would  not  act  on  the  practical  cer- 
tainty that  the  dice  were  loaded  long  before  the 
hundredth  throw  was  reached  in  such  a  case?  The 
same  reasoning  applies  to  the  matter  of  handwriting 
with  added  force,  because  the  chance  of  two  sig- 
natures being  exactly  alike  is  incomparably  less  than 
the  chance  of  the  supposed  throws  of  the  dice. 

Probably  many  persons  will  not  believe  that  it  is 
impossible  for  them  to  write  their  own  name  twice 
alike.  For  them  it  will  be  an  interesting  experiment 
to  repeat  their  signatures,  say,  a  hundred  times,  writ- 
ing them  on  various  occasions  and  under  different  cir- 
cumstances, and  then  to  compare  the  result.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  they  will  hardly  find  two  of  these 
which  do  not  present  some  differences,  even  to  their 
eyes,  and  under  the  examination  of  a  trained  observer 
aided  by  the  microscope,  these  divergencies  stand  out 
tenfold  more  plainly. 

Many  cases  of  forgery  hinge  on  this  point,  the  forger 
having  copied  another  person's  signature  by  tracing 
one  in  his  possession,  but  such  attempts  are  always 
more  easy  to  detect  than  those  in  which  the  forger 
carefully  imitates  another's  hand.  The  latter  is  the 
usual  procedure.  The  forger  secures  examples  of  the 
signature  or  writing  which  he  desires  to  imitate.  Then 
he  practices  on  it,  trying  to  reproduce  all  its  striking 
peculiarities.  In  this  way  he  sometimes  arrives  at  a 
resemblance  so  close  as  to  deceive  even  his  victim.  Still 
there  is  always  present  some  internal  evidence  to 
prove  that  the  writing  is  not  the  work  of  the  person  to 
whom  it  is  attributed.  Likewise  it  will  reveal  the 
identity  of  the  person  who  actully  wrote  it,  if  speci- 
mens of  his  natural  hand  are  to  be  had  for  comparison. 

100 


TO  DETECT  FORGED  HANDWRITING 

It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  carry  in  his  mind  and 
to  reproduce  on  paper  all  the  peculiar  characteristics 
of  another  man's  writing  and  at  the  same  time  to  con- 
ceal all  his  own.  At  some  point  there  is  certain  to  come 
a  slip  when  the  habit  of  years  asserts  itself  and  gives 
the  testimony  which  may  fix  the  whole  production 
on  the  forger  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt. 

The  little  things  are  the  ones  that  count  most  in 
making  examination  and  determining  a  forgery  for 
the  reason  that  they  are  no  less  characteristic  than 
the  more  prominent  peculiarities  and  are  more  likely 
to  be  overlooked  by  the  person  who  tries  to  dis- 
guise his  hand.  The  crossing  of  t's  and  the  dotting 
of  ?s  become  matters  of  large  moment  in  making  com- 
parisons of  disputed  handwritings.  There  is  proba- 
bly no  matter  in  conjunction  with  a  man's  ordinary 
writing  to  which  he  gives  less  thought  than  the  way 
he  makes  these  crosses  and  dots.  For  that  reason 
they  are  in  the  highest  degree  characteristic.  And  it 
is  precisely  because  of  their  apparently  slight  import- 
ance that  the  person  who  sets  out  to  imitate  another's 
handwriting  or  to  disguise  his  own  is  likely  to  be  care- 
less about  these  little  marks  and  to  make  slips  which 
will  be  sufficient  to  prove  his  identity. 

Imitations  of  signatures  are  usually  written  in  a 
laborious  and  painstaking  manner.  They  are,  there- 
fore, decidedly  unlike  a  man 's  natural  signature,  which 
is  usually  written  in  an  easy  fashion.  The  imitations 
show  frequent  pauses,  irregularities  in  pen  pressure 
and  in  the  distribution  of  ink,  and  contain  other  evi- 
dences of  hesitation.  Not  infrequently  the  forger 
tries  to  improve  on  his  work  by  retouchimg  some  of  the 
letters  after  he  has  completed  a  word.  Microscopic 

101 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

examination  brings  out  all  of  these  things  and  makes 
them  tell-tale  witnesses. 

Comparison  of  handwriting  is  competent  but  is  not 
itself  conclusive  evidence  of  forgery.  Identification 
of  handwriting  is,  if  possible,  more  difficult  than  ident- 
ification of  the  person  which  so  often  forms  the  chief 
difficulty  in  criminal  trials.  As  illness,  strange  dress, 
unusual  attitude,  and  the  like,  cause  mistakes  in  iden- 
tifying the  individual,  so  a  bad  pen  or  rough  paper,  a 
shaky  hand  and  many  other  things  change  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  person's  handwriting. 

This  kind  of  evidence  ought  never,  therefore,  to  be 
regarded  as  full  proof  in  trials  where  a  handwriting  is 
in  dispute.  Generally  the  best  witness  in  a  handwrit- 
ing case  is  one  who  often  sees  the  party  write,  through 
whose  hands  his  writing  has  been  continually  passing, 
and  whose  opinion  is  not  the  result  of  an  inspection 
made  on  a  particular  occasion  for  a  special  purpose. 


102 


IX 

Greatest  Danger  to  Banks 


CHAPTER  IX 
GREATEST   DANGER  TO   BANKS 

Check- Raising  Always  a  Danger  —  A  Scheme  Almost  Impossible 
to  Prevent  —  The  American  Bankers'  Association  the  Greatest 
Foe  to  Forgers  —  It  Follows  Them  Relentlessly  and  Success- 
fully —  Chemically  Prepared  Paper  and  Watermarks  Not 
Always  a  Safeguard  —  Perforating  Machines  and  Check  Raisers 
—  How  Check  Perforations  Are  Overcome  —  How  an  Ordinary 
Check  Is  Raised  —  How  an  Expert  Alters  Checks  —  How 
Perforations  Are  Filled. —  Hasty  Examination  by  Paying 
Tellers  Encourages  Forgers  —  The  Way  Bogus  Checks  Creep 
Through  a  Bank  Unnoticed  —  A  Celebrated  Forgery  Case  — 
Forgers  Successful  for  a  Time  Always  Caught  —  Where  Forgers 
Ususally  Go  That  Have  Made  a  Big  Haul  —  A  Professional 
Crook  Is  a  Person  of  Large  Acquaintance. 

Raising  checks  has  become  the  greatest  danger  to 
the  banks.  There  is  no  comparison  between  raising 
checks  with  a  genuine  signature  and  forging  the  sig- 
nature itself,  so  far  as  ease  of  execution  is  concerned. 
After  many  years  of  arduous  work  and  after  great 
expenditures  of  money  the  banks  have  to  admit  sor- 
rowfully that  if  a  man  wants  to  raise  a  check  he  can  do 
it;  and  the  detection,  while,  of  course,  inevitable 
when  the  paid  check  returns  to  the  depositor,  is  not 
immediate  enough  to  prevent  the  swindler  from  getting 
away  with  the  money. 

That  is  why  the  most  implacable  enemy  of  the  men 
who  dare  raise  or  falsify  a  check  is  the  American 
Bankers'  Association.  This  great  concern  in  reality 
is  a  protective  association,  and  it  relentlessly  hunts 
down  all  forgers  first,  last,  and  all  the  time.  It  never 

105 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

lets  up,  absolutely  never,  no  matter  time,  money,  or 
trouble.  It  bitterly  pursues  defaulters  for  the  sake 
of  justice,  but  it  has  still  another  object  in  its  deadly 
trailing  of  forgers  and  check  tamperer«s.  That  is 
because  the  whole  banking  structure  hangs  on  signed 
paper.  When  it  can  be  altered  with  impunity,  away 
goes  the  financial  system  of  to-day.  Hence  the  unre- 
lenting hunting-down  of  forgers  who  trifle  with  men's 
names.  On  the  books  of  more  than  one  large  detective 
agency  of  the  country  are  cases  more  than  ten  years 
old.  The  forgers  never  have  been  found,  but  the  hunt 
still  goes  on.  Reports  of  the  chase  come  in  regularly 
and  the  books  will  not  be  closed  until  the  hunt  stops 
at  prison  doors  or  beside  a  grave. 

Yet  with  all  this  remorseless  hunting,  check-raising 
flourishes  so  well  all  over  the  United  States  that  the 
banks  fear  to  give  even  a  hint  as  to  the  sums  of  which 
they  or  their  depositors  are  robbed  each  year.  The 
magnitude  of  the  amount  would  frighten  too  many 
persons. 

For  a  time  it  was  thought  that  the  use  of  chemi- 
cally prepared  paper  would  prove  a  safeguard,  be- 
cause any  erasure  or  alteration  would  show  immediate- 
ly. The  chemicals  used  in  its  composition  would 
make  the  ink  run  if  acids  were  used  to  change  the  fig- 
ures. But  among  the  check-raisers  there  were  chemists 
just  as  clever  as  the  chemists  who  devised  the  prepared 
paper. 

Then  paper  with  watermarks  woven  through  it  was 
used.  But  it,  too,  became  an  easy  mark  for  the  chem- 
ists who  had  gone  wrong. 

Finally,  and  until  recently,  the  banking  world 
thought  that  it  had  struck  the  absolute  safeguard  by 

106 


GREATEST  DANGER  TO  BANKS 

using  a  machine  to  stamp  on  the  check  the  exact 
amount  for  which  it  was  drawn,  the  machine  perfor- 
ating the  paper  as  it  stamped  it.  Certainly  it  does 
seem  that  when  the  paper  is  cut  right  out  of  the  check, 
leaving  nothing  but  holes,  no  change  is  humanly  pos- 
sible. But  the  completeness  of  this  supposed  safe- 
guard has  offered  a  tempting  field  for  the  check-raiser. 

A  special  detective  in  the  employ  of  the  American 
Bankers'  Association,  who  has  spent  half  the  years  of 
his  mature  life  in  running  down  forgers  and  check- 
raisers,  said  that  it  was  "too  easy"  to  raise  checks, 
and  that  a  good  many  more  men  than  try  it  now 
would  do  it  were  it  not  for  the  well-known  relentlessness 
of  the  association  in  running  down  offenders  against 
any  single  one  of  its  constituent  members. 

"Write  me  a  check  for  any  sum  you  want,"  said 
the  sleuth,  "and  I'll  show  you." 

A  check  for  $200  was  written  and  passed  over  to 
him.  In  less  than  two  minutes,  without  an  erasure 
of  any  kind,  the  check  called  for  $500,  and  the  work 
was  done  so  well  even  in  that  short  time  that  the 
writer  would  have  been  tempted  to  believe  that  he 
had  made  an  error  and  really  drawn  the  check  for  that 
amount  had  he  not  been  sure  to  the  contrary. 

"That  kind  of  raising  is  easy,"  said  the  expert. 
"You  see  it  demands  no  interlining  or  extending  of 
words.  The  check-raiser  simply  knows  how  well  cer- 
tain characters  lend  themselves  to  changes  that  can- 
not be  detected.  The  capital  T  in  almost  every  man's 
handwriting  can  be  changed  to  a  capital  F  without 
any  trouble  by  even  an  unskilled  crook. 

A  check  for  $2,000  was  raised  to  $50,000  almost  in 
the  wink  of  an  eye.  "This  is  the  easy  and  safer  part 

107 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

of  the  business,"  said  he.  "But  when  a  check  is  to 
be  raised  from  a  sum  like  $10  to,  say,  $10,000,  and  the 
drawer  has  written  it  so  that  there  is  no  room  between 
the  word  "  ten' '  and  "dollars,"  chemicals  must  be  used. 
There  is  always  more  danger  of  detection  in  that.  In 
the  mere  alteration  of  a  check  there  is  little.  Look 
here.  I'll  change  your  checks  as  fast  as  you  can  write 
them,  and  I  bet  a  lot  of  my  alterations  will  pass 
muster." 

A  pad  was  hauled  out  and  the  writer  filled  the  sheets 
out  with  carefully  written  amounts.  The  expert  was 
as  good  as  his  word.  He  altered  them  almost  as  fast 
as  they  were  written.  Some,  to  be  sure,  were  crude 
and  would  have  betrayed  the  fact  of  alteration  to  the 
eye  of  any  careful  banker.  But  many  were  almost 
perfect,  and  all  were  wonderfully  deceptive  and  showed 
what  could  be  done  by  a  crook  who  had  plenty  of 
time. 

"But  how  about  the  perforations?"  he  was  asked. 
"  How  could  a  crook  change  them?' ' 

"Nothing  easier,"  was  the  reply.  "The  fact  that 
checks  stamped  with  the  amount  in  perforated  char- 
acters are  considered  safe  aids  the  swindler.  Really, 
to  beat  the  perforations  is  so  easy  that  it  will  make 
you  smile.  All  the  outfit  that  is  needed  is  a  common 
little  punch  with  assorted  small  cutting  tubes  and  a 
bottle  of  an  invisible  glue  that  every  crook  can  make 
or  that  he  can  buy  in  certain  places  that  every  crook 
knows.  Now,  here  is  a  check  stamped  in  perforated 
characters  $300$.  I  take  my  little  punch  and  fit  into 
it  a  cutter  that  will  punch  holes  of  the  same  size  as  the 
holes  in  the  perforations. 

"  Now  I  punch  out  of  the  edge  of  the  check  a  few  tiny 

108 


disks.  I  moisten  the  tip  of  a  needle  and  press  them 
carefully  into  the  holes  that  make  the  upper  part  of 
the  figure  3.  See,  evenjn  my  haste  and  without  glue, 
they  fill  the  perforations  completely  and  I  can  shake 
and  pull  the  check  without  disturbing  them." 

It  was  true.  The  little  plugs  fitted  perfectly,  and 
even  with  the  knowledge  that  they  were  there  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  see  where  they  had  been  inserted. 

"Now,"  continued  the  expert,  "I  merely  take  my 
punch  and  carefully  punch  enough  holes  to  the  right 
of  the  upper  part  of  the  figure  3  to  make  it  a  5.  And 
there  you  are.  If  I  wanted  to  pass  this  check  through 
the  bank  I  would  only  have  to  complete  the  job  by 
smearing  a  drop  of  the  invisible  glue  over  the  back 
where  I  have  plugged  the  original  holes.  This  glue  is 
wonderfully  tenacious  and  will  actually  hold  the  edges 
of  paper  together.  It  needs  only  the  smallest  surface 
in  order  to  get  hold.  After  it  is  on  not  even  the  mi- 
croscope could  detect  it  readily.  And  no  amount  of 
pulling  or  shaking  of  the  check  will  disturb  it. 

"  You  may  suppose  that  a  check  that  is  stamped  this 
way,  for  instance  —  $600$  —  would  be  hard  to  change 
into  one  of  four  figures.  But  it  is  almost  equally  easy. 
The  crook  simply  punches  out  enough  disks  from  the 
edge  to  fill  up  the  last  dollar  mark  completely,  and 
after  he  has  plugged  it  and  the  glue  is  dry  he  punches 
a  cipher  into  the  place  and  then  punches  a  dollar  mark 
after  it.  Of  course,  after  punching  the  little  disks  out 
of  the  edge  of  the  check  it  is  necessary  to  trim  that 
part  of  the  paper,  but  that  is  done  readily,  for  checks 
always  have  ample  margin. 

"The  check-raiser  does  not  depend  on  the  fact  that 
the  scrutiny  of  checks  in  a  large  bank  is  bound  to  be 

109 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

hasty,  but  he  knows  that  he  need  not  fear  if  his  work 
is  at  all  well  done,  for  the  paying  teller  simply  can- 
not spend  much  time  in  examining  the  many  checks 
that  are  passed  in. 

"  One  New  York  City  bank  sends  through  the  clear- 
ing-house daily  an  average  of  3,100  checks,  and  as 
there  are  about  sixty-five  such  banks  in  the  clearing- 
house the  total  number  of  checks  handled  in  the  few 
hours  of  business  in  a  day  is  something  enormous. 

"It  is  this  haste  —  which,  by  the  way,  is  absolutely 
necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  books  posted  to  date  - 
that  is  responsible  for  the  passing  of  one  of  the  most 
peculiar  checks  that  ever  came  under  the  notice  of 
the  detectives  of  America.  In  this  case  the  check  was 
neither  falsified  nor  was  the  signature  forged,  but  it 
was  bogus  just  the  same. 

"  It  was  a  check  made  up  of  the  parts  of  two  checks, 
and  all  the  implements  necessary  for  falsification  were 
a  pair  of  scissors  and  that  invisible  glue.  The  clever 
swindler  had  got  hold  of  two  genuine  checks  from  the 
same  bank,  One  was  for  $1,000  and  the  other  for 
$70.  Placing  these  two  checks  together,  one  on  top 
of  the  other,  he  cut  them  through  neatly  with  the  scis- 
sors. Then  he  pasted  that  portion  bearing  the  word 
'seventy'  on  the  one  check  to  that  part  bearing  the 
word  'thousand'  on  the  other.  So  the  composite 
check  read  to  pay  to  the  holder  'seventy  thousand' 
dollars.  As  the  cutting  was  made  through  both 
checks  in  exactly  the  same  place,  the  edges  fitted  per- 
fectly. They  were  glued  together  and  the  check 
readily  passed  the  bank  cashier.  The  man  was 
caught  and  made  restitution  without  publicity,  but 
the  case  gave  bankers  a  shock.  Other  somewhat 

no 


GREATEST  DANGER  TO  BANKS 

similar  cases  are  known,  but  none  involving  such  a 
large  amount. 

"A  famous  case  was  the  celebrated  Seaver  fraud. 
He  bought  a  draft  for  $12  from  the  Bank  of  Woodland 
(Cal.),  and,  although  it  was  written  on  chemical 
'safety'  paper  and  perforated  in  two  places  with  a 
check  punch,  he  raised  it  to  $12,000,  and  it  was  passed 
successfully  and  paid. 

"  But  however  successful  they  may  be  for  a  time,  it 
is  the  fatal  hoodoo  of  this  'most  gentlemanly'  way  of 
making  a  living  without  earning  it  that  a  forgery 
is  always  discovered  and  the  forger  generally  caught. 
That  is  because  the  forged  check  remains  in  existence 
and  must  be  paid  by  some  one,  and  sooner  or  later 
there  will  be  an  outcry.  The  best  the  raiser  can  hope 
for  is  to  escape  before  the  crime  is  discovered. 

"Once  the  false  check  is  passed  and  he  has  the 
money,  his  first  idea  is  as  to  where  he  shall  hide.  An- 
other fatality  attaching  to  his  peculiar  business  is  that 
the  same  place  that  he  thinks  of  flying  to  is  the  place 
that  suggests  itself  to  the  mind  of  the  thief-chaser. 
In  other  words,  knowing  their  man,  the  man-hunters 
can  guess  well  where  to  find  him. 

"If  a  forger  wants  to  bury  himself,  he  thinks  of 
South  America,  because  it  is  easy  to  get  there,  and 
apparently  out  of  the  world.  Then,  of  South  America, 
he  probably  only  thinks  of  Venezuela,  or  closer  home 
—  of  Guatemala  or  Panama.  So  the  South  American 
hunt  is  simplicity  itself,  as  there  are  not  so  many 
large  ports  that  strange  Americans  can  pass  through 
unnoticed. 

"If  a  forger  wants  to  continue  in  his  crooked  busi- 
ness he  thinks  of  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  and  maybe 

in 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

Vienna.  We  guess  at  his  calibre  and  whether  he  wants 
more  money,  and  know  where  he  probably  will  go  to 
get  it,  for  the  professional  crook  has  an  international 
acquaintance,  and  he  only  goes  among  friends.  So 
we  follow  him. 

"If  a  forger  is  an  adventurous  spirit  and  committed 
the  crime  on  impulse,  and  we  could  learn  absolutely 
nothing  more  about  him,  we  would  look  in  that  Mecca 
of  adventurers,  South  Africa,  for  him.  In  fact,  our 
first  business  is  to  learn  what  kind  of  a  man  he  is,  then 
shut  our  eyes  and  guess  which  one  of  a  few  places  he 
will  fly  to.  The  guess  often  is  so  good  that  our  men 
await  him  when  the  steamer  lands  there.  If  not,  we 
don't  forget  the  sailing  vessels." 


112 


X 

Thumb-Prints  Never  Forged 


CHAPTER   X 
THUMB-PRINTS    NEVER  FORGED 

Thumb-Print  Method  of  Identification  Absolute  —  Now  Brought 
to  a  High  State  of  Perfection  —  Will  Eventually  Be  Used  in  All 
Banks  —  Certified  Checks  and  Also  Drafts  with  Thumb-Print 
Signatures  —  Absolute  Accuracy  of  a  Thumb-Print  Identifi- 
cation Assured  —  A  Thumb-Print  in  Wax  on  Sealed  Packages  — 
Its  Use  an  Advantage  on  Bankable  Paper  of  All  Kinds  —  How 
Strangers  Are  Easily  Identified  —  Bankers,  Merchants  and 
Business  Men  Protected  by  This  System  —  Full  Particulars  as 
to  How  Thumb-Prints  Are  Made  —  Can  be  Printed  by  Anyone 
in  a  Few  Minutes  —  How  and  When  to  Place  Your  Thumb- 
Print  on  Bankable  Paper  —  Finger-Prints  as  Reliable  as  Thumb- 
Prints —  Use  to  Which  This  System  Could  Be  Put  —  Thumb 
and  Finger  Tips  Do  Not  Change  From  Birth  to  Death  —  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  at  Washington  Has  Established  a  Bureau  of 
Criminal  Registry  Using  the  Thumb-Print  System  —  Thumb- 
Print  System  Said  to  Be  a  Chinese  Invention  —  Its  Use  Spread- 
ing Rapidly —  How  to  Secure  Thumb-Print  Impression  Without 
Knowledge  of  Party  —  An  Interesting  and  Valuable  Study. 

How  to  detect  the  forger  as  one  of  the  cleverest  of 
operating  criminals  has  been  solved  by  the  "thumb- 
print"  method  of  identification,  now  spreading  through- 
out the  banks,  business  houses  and  public  offices  of 
the  world. 

It  is  quite  as  interesting  as  the  suggestion  that 
through  the  same  thumb-print  method  in  commercial 
and  banking  houses  the  forger  is  likely  to  become  a 
creature  without  occupation  and  chirographical  means 
of  support.  R.  W.  McClaughry,  chief  of  the  bureau  of 
identification  in  the  federal  prison  at  Leavenworth, 
Kan.,  is  one  of  the  most  expert  in  the  thumb-print 
method  of  identification  in  this  country,  having  been 

"5 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

schooled  at  Scotland  Yards  in  London,  where  the 
method  first  was  brought  to  its  present  state  of  per- 
fection. Mr.  McClaughry  sees  for  the  system  not  only 
a  great  aid  in  preventing  the  forgeries  of  commercial 
brigands  but  the  easiest  of  all  means  for  a  person  in  a 
strange  city  to  identify  himself  as  the  lawful  possessor 
of  check,  or  note,  or  bank  draft  which  he  may  wish  to 
turn  into  cash  at  a  banker's  window. 

Thumb-print  signatures  will  eventually  be  used  in 
all  banks  as  a  means  of  identification.  It  will  be  a  sure 
preventative  of  forgery.  For  instance :  A  maker  of  a 
check  desiring  to  take  a  trip  around  the  world  shall 
draw  a  check  for  the  needed  sum  and,  in  the  presence 
of  the  cashier  of  his  bank,  place  one  thumb-print  in 
ink  somewhere  in  one  spot  on  the  check  —  perhaps 
over  the  amount  of  the  check  as  written  in  figures. 
Thereupon  the  cashier  of  the  bank  will  accept  the 
check  as  certified  by  his  institution.  With  this  paper 
in  his  possession  the  drawer  of  the  check  may  go  from 
his  home  in  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  a  stranger  to 
every  person  in  the  city.  But  at  the  window  of  any 
bank  in  that  city,  presenting  his  certified  check  to  a 
teller  who  has  a  reading  glass  at  his  hand,  the  stranger 
may  satisfy  the  most  careful  of  banks  by  a  mere  im- 
print of  his  thumb  somewhere  else  upon  the  face  of 
the  check. 

With  the  ink  thumb-print  of  the  cashier  of  a  bank 
placed  on  a  bank  draft  over  his  signature  and  over  the 
written  amount  of  the  draft,  chemical  papers  and  the 
dangers  of  "raising"  or  counterfeiting  the  draft 
would  have  no  further  consideration.  The  thumb- 
print  of  the  secretary  of  the  United  States  treasury, 
reproduced  on  the  face  of  greenback,  silver  certificate 

116 


THUMB-PRINTS  NEVER  FORGED 

and  bank  note  of  any  series  would  discourage  counter- 
feiting as  nothing  else  ever  has  done. 

But  this  thumb-print  possibility  in  commercial 
papers  has  its  greatest  future  in  the  positve  identifi- 
cation which  either  thumb  or  finger  print  carries  with 
it.  Criminologists  all  over  the  world  have  satisfied 
themselves  of  the  absolute  accuracy  of  the  finger- 
print identification. 

At  the  present  time  traveling  salesmen,  who  spend 
much  money  and  who  wish  to  carry  as  little  as  possible 
of  cash  with  them,  have  an  organized  system  by  which 
their  bankable  paper  may  be  cashed  at  hotels  and 
business  houses  over  the  country.  But  with  the 
thumb-print  in  use,  as  it  might  be,  such  an  organ- 
ization would  be  unnecessary. 

As  between  bank  and  bank,  this  use  of  the  finger- 
print in  bank  papers  of  large  face  value  is  especially 
applicable.  A  draft  for  $100,000  or  $1,000,000  may 
be  worth  more  consideration  of  the  banks  concerned 
than  the  penmanship  of  signer  and  countersigner  of 
the  paper. 

In  the  shipment  of  currency  where  there  may  be 
question  of  either  honesty  or  correctness  in  the  per- 
sons sealing  the  package,  a  thumb-print  in  wax  will 
determine  absolutely  whether  the  wax  has  been  un- 
broken in  transit,  as  well  as  establishing  the  iden- 
tity of  the  person  putting  on  the  first  seal.  As  to  the 
protective  value  of  such  a  thumb-seal,  a  case  has 
been  cited  in  which  train  robbers,  discovering  a 
chance  seal  of  the  kind  in  wax  of  such  a  package,  left 
that  package  untouched  when  the  express  safe  had 
been  blown  open;  it  was  too  suggestive  of  danger  to 
be  risked. 

117 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

In  the  ordinary  usage  of  the  thumb-print  on  bank- 
able paper  the  city  bank  having  its  country  corre- 
spondents everywhere  often  is  called  upon  to  cash  a 
draft  drawn  by  the  country  bank  in  favor  of  that 
bank's  customer,  who  may  be  a  stranger  in  the  city. 
The  city  bank  desires  to  accommodate  the  country  cor- 
respondent as  a  first  proposition.  The  unidentified 
bearer  of  the  draft  in  the  city  may  have  no  acquain- 
tance able  to  identify  him.  If  he  presents  the  draft 
at  the  windows  of  the  big  bank,  hoping  to  satisfy  the 
institution,  and  is  turned  away,  he  feels  hurt.  By 
the  thumb-print  method  he  might  have  his  money  in 
a  moment. 

In  the  first  place,  even  the  signature  of  the  cashier 
of  the  country  bank  will  be  enough  to  satisfy  its  cor- 
respondent in  the  city  of  the  genuineness  of  the  draft. 
Before  the  country  purchaser  of  the  draft  has  left  the 
bank  issuing  the  paper  he  will  be  required  to  make  the 
ink  thumb-print  in  a.  space  for  that  purpose.  With- 
out this  imprint  the  draft  will  have  no  value.  If  the 
system  should  be  in  use,  the  cashier  signing  the  draft 
will  not  affix  his  signature  to  the  paper  until  this  im- 
print has  been  made  in  his  presence. 

Then,  with  his  attested  finger-print  on  the  face  of 
the  draft,  the  stranger  in  the  city  may  go  to  the  city 
bank,  appearing  at  the  window  of  the  newest  teller, 
if  need  be.  This  teller  will  have  at  hand  his  inked 
pad,  faced  with  a  sheet  of  smooth  tin.  He  never  may 
have  seen  the  customer  before.  He  never  may  see 
him  again.  But  under  the  magnifying  influences  of 
an  ordinary  reading  glass  he  may  know  past  the 
possibility  of  doubt  that  in  the  hands  of  the  proper 
person  named  in  the  draft  the  imprint  which  is  made 

1x8 


THUMB-PRINTS  NEVER  FORGED 

before  him  has  been  made  by  the  first  purchaser  of 
the  draft. 

In  the  more  important  and  complicated  transac- 
tions in  bank  paper  one  bank  may  forward  from  the 
bank  itself  the  finger-print  proofs  of  identity.  The 
whole  field  of  such  necessities  is  open  to  adapted  uses 
of  the  method.  Notes  given  by  one  bank  to  another 
in  high  figures  may  be  protected  in  every  way  by 
these  imprints.  Stock  issues  and  institution  bonds 
would  be  worthy  of  the  thumb-print  precautions,  as 
would  be  every  other  form  of  paper  which  might  tempt 
either  the  forger  or  the  counterfeiter.  In  any  case 
where  the  authenticity  of  the  paper  might  be  ques- 
tioned, the  finger-print  would  serve  as  absolute  guar- 
antee. In  stenographic  correspondence,  where  there 
might  be  inducements  to  write  unauthorized  letters 
on  the  part  of  some  person  with  wrong  intent,  the 
imprint  of  finger  or  thumb  would  make  the  possibility 
of  fraud  too  remote  for  fears.  For,  in  addition  to 
the  security  of  signatures  in  real  documents,  the  dan- 
ger in  attempting  frauds  of  this  kind  is  increased. 

As  to  the  physical  necessaries  in  registering  finger- 
prints, they  are  simple  and  inexpensive.  A  block  of 
wood  faced  with  smooth  tin  or  zinc  the  size  of  an 
octavo  volume,  a  small  ink  roller,  and  a  tube  of  black 
ink  are  all  that  are  required.  For  removing  the  ink  on 
thumb  or  finger  a  towel  and  alcohol  cleanser  are  suffi- 
cient. A  tip  impression  or  a  "rolled"  finger  signa- 
ture may  be  used.  Only  a  few  seconds  are  required 
for  the  operation. 

In  giving  big  checks  merchants  and  bankers  would 
be  protected  by  the  thumb-print  system.  A  mer- 
chant could  place  the  print  of  his  right  index  finger 

119 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

to  the  left  of  his  signature  on  a  check.  The  bank 
would  have  a  print,  together  with  the  merchant's  sig- 
nature on  file.  Only  a  few  seconds  would  be  neces- 
sary to  convince  the  paying  teller  as  to  its  genuineness. 
The  merchant,  also,  if  necessary,  could  place  a  light 
print  of  the  index  finger  over  the  amount  of  the  check 
where  written  in  figures.  Any  attempt  to  erase  the 
figures  would  destroy  the  finger-print.  If  the  figures 
were  raised,  the  one  doing  so  would  be  unable  to  place 
a  finger-print  in  the  same  space  that  would  correspond 
with  the  one  at  the  bottom  of  the  check  beside  the 
signature,  and  the  raising  of  the  check  would  imme- 
diately be  discovered  in  the  bank  where  the  check  was 
presented. 

The  finger-prints  could  be  used  also  in  all  manner  of 
documents  filed  for  record,  such  as  deeds  to  lands, 
mortgages,  leases,  and  the  like.  Railroads  could  use 
it  to  prevent  men  once  employed  and  discharged  for 
incompetency  obtaining  employment  on  another 
division,  thus  doing  away  with  inspectors.  Each  new 
employee's  finger-prints  could  be  kept  in  a  central 
office  and  classified.  Any  man  attempting  to  obtain 
employment  again  with  the  same  railway,  who  had 
once  been  discharged  for  cause,  would  immediately 
be  detected,  and  a  high  standard  of  personnel  thus 
obtained. 

Congress  recently  passed  a  law  whereby  the  Bureau 
of  Immigration  is  permitted  to  tax  each  immigrant 
four  dollars;  this  sum  to  be  used  in  detecting  foreign 
criminals  who  come  to  this  country ;  also  to  aid  in  as- 
certaining whether  foreigners  who  come  here  commit 
crimes  and  get  into  prisons.  If  such  are  found  they 
are  to  be  deported.  By  the  finger-print  system  the 

120 


THUMB-PRINTS  NEVER  FORGED 

prints  of  each  foreigner  could  be  taken  at  all  ports  of 
entry.  These  could  be  kept  on  file  in  Washington, 
and  from  time  to  time  compared  with  those  sent  to 
the  Bureau  of  Criminal  Registry  in  the  Department  of 
Justice  building.  Any  foreigner  located  in  a  prison 
could  be  ascertained,  and  upon  the  termination  of  his 
sentence  taken  to  some  port  and  placed  on  board  ship. 

It  has  been  demonstrated  by  experts  that  the 
ridges  of  finger  tips  do  not  change  from  birth  until 
death  and  decomposition.  Scars  made  on  the  finger 
tips  remain  throughout  life,  and  are  valuable  for  iden- 
tification purposes.  Criminals  try  to  evade  identifi- 
cation by  the  system  by  burning  the  tips  of  their  digits 
with  acid;  but  these  are  classified  under  the  head  of 
disfigured  fingers,  and  a  lawbreaker  cannot  escape 
detection.  Even  the  removal  of  two,  three,  or  four 
fingers  or  an  entire  hand  does  not  prevent  a  criminal 
being  traced  if  his  prints  were  taken  before  he  lost  the 
five  digits.  In  the  case  of  one  hand  being  amputated, 
the  missing  fingers  are  classified  as  they  appear  on  the 
other  hand.  If  a  search  fails  to  locate  the  person, 
then  the  missing  fingers  are  classified  first  as  whorls 
and  then  as  loops,  search  being  made  after  each  classi- 
fication. In  this  manner  the  search  may  be  a  little 
more  tedious  than  it  would  be  if  all  the  fingers  were 
there,  but  in  time  he  would  be  identified. 

The  Department  of  Justice  thinks  so  well  of  the  sys- 
tem that  it  has  recently  established  in  Washington  a 
Bureau  of  Criminal  Registry.  There  the  finger-print 
sheets,  and  for  the  time  being  Bertillon  cards,  of  all 
criminals  who  have  been  convicted  of  violating  fed- 
eral laws  are  to  be  kept.  The  prints  and  Bertillon 
measurements  of  new  arrivals  at  government  prisons 

121 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

and  jails  will  also  be  sent  there  for  classification,  none 
of  this  work  being  done  at  prisons  as  heretofore. 
The  men  held  in  federal  jails,  charged  with  crimes,  are 
also  to  have  their  finger-prints  taken,  and  these  sent 
to  the  central  bureau.  If  the  expert  in  charge  of  this 
bureau  ascertains  that  a  man  indicted  for  crime  has 
served  a  previous  term  in  prison,  this  fact  is  to  be  com- 
municated to  the  United  States  judge  and  district  at- 
torney, and  if  convicted  the  criminal  is  to  be  given 
the  full  limit  of  sentence. 

Although  the  system  of  identification  by  finger- 
prints has  been  in  use  in  Europe  for  a  number  of  years, 
it  is  not  a  European  invention.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  is  one  of  those  cherished  western  institutions  that 
the  Chinese  have  calmly  claimed  for  their  own,  and 
those  who  doubt  this  may  be  convinced  by  actual  his- 
tory showing  it  to  have  been  employed  in  the  police 
courts  of  British  India  for  a  generation  or  so  back. 
Just  who  was  responsible  for  its  adoption  there  is 
not  certain,  but  Sir  John  Herschel,  at  one  time  con- 
nected with  the  India  civil  service,  is  usually  mentioned 
in  this  regard.  The  British  police  experienced  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  in  keeping  track  of  even  the  most 
notorious  native  criminals  and  it  was  a  great  deal  more 
difficult  to  arrest  a  first  offender,  for  the  reason  that 
all  the  natives  looked  so  much  alike  and  were  such 
apt  liars. 

Ordinary  methods,  even  the  Bertillon  system,  were 
fruitless  and  finally  the  finger-print  scheme  was  tried. 
It  worked  like  a  charm.  Where  more  arrests  had  been 
the  exception,  they  now  became  the  rule  and  the  power 
of  the  law  began  to  merit  respect.  In  case  after  case 
the  police  were  enabled  to  track  the  crime  solely  by 

122 


THUMB-PRINTS  NEVER  FORGED 

the  chance  print  of  a  man's  finger  or  thumb  on  an  odd 
piece  of  paper,  on  the  dusty  lintel  of  a  doorway  or  a 
dirty  window  pane.  Some  of  the  stories  told  of  their 
accomplishments  in  this  line  rival  the  most  thrilling 
detective  stories. 

In  one  case,  that  of  the  murder  of  a  manager  of  a 
tea  garden  on  the  Bhupal  frontier,  half  a  dozen  or 
more  persons  were  at  first  suspected,  among  them  the 
real  murderer,  who  was,  however,  later  regarded  as 
innocent  because  he  was  supposed  to  have  been  away 
from  the  district  at  the  time  the  crime  was  committed. 
Investigations  and  questionings  did  no  good,  and  at 
last  the  local  inspector  decided  to  take  the  thumb- 
prints  of  all  concerned  and  refer  them  to  the  central 
office  of  the  province.  After  the  records  had  been 
searched  a  messenger  came  with  orders  to  arrest  the 
discharged  servant  of  the  manager  who  had  been  first 
suspected  and  then  exonerated,  for  his  finger-prints 
tallied  exactly  with  those  of  a  bad  character  just 
discharged  from  prison.  He  was  later  convicted  of 
burglary  by  a  court  of  appeal,  to  which  the  case  was 
carried,  the  court  refusing  to  condemn  a  man  for  mur- 
der on  such  slight  basis  when  the  actual  crime  had  not 
been  observed. 

At  the  present  time  in  India  the  papers  taken  in  the 
civil-service  examinations  must  be  certified  to  by  the 
thumb-print  of  the  competitor  and  wills  must  likewise 
be  sealed  in  the  same  way,  and  all  checks  and  drafts 
must  be  certified  by  a  thumb-print  in  addition  to  a 
signature. 

In  India,  also  deeds  of  transfer,  and  records  of  sale 
of  land  in  connection  with  illiterate  natives  are  exe- 
cuted by  the  impression  of  a  thumb-mark  instead  of 

123 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

an  "X,  his  mark";  and  recently  this  very  superior 
system  of  signature  has  been  applied  to  all  kinds  of 
transactions  with  the  natives,  such  as  post-office  sav- 
ings banks,  pension  certificates,  mortgages,  etc. 

The  success  the  plan  met  with  in  India  led  to  its 
trial  and  speedy  adoption  by  the  French  and  English 
police.  In  Paris  it  is  used  as  an  adjunct  to  the  meas- 
urement system  of  M.  Bertillon,  but  at  Scotland  Yard 
the  Bertillon  system  has  been  entirely  done  away 
with  and  full  reliance  is  had  on  the  prints.  M.  Ber- 
tillon claims  to  have  500,000  prints  in  his  collection, 
although  this  is  said  by  the  authorities  to  be  an  ex- 
aggeration, and  Inspector  McNaughton  of  the  convict 
supervision  office  has  at  least  100,000  criminals'  hands 
catalogued  in  his  office. 

Finger  marks  do  not  change  in  any  way  through 
life,  and  any  injury  only  temporarily  affects  the  pat- 
tern. The  pattern  becomes  larger  as  the  youth  de- 
velops into  a  man,  but  the  arrangement  of  the  lines 
remains  absolutely  the  same. 

Thumb-marks  may  be  generally  classified  as  loops, 
arches  and  ovals,  or  whorls;  the  ovals  irresistibly 
remind  one  of  whirlpools  as  well  as  the  volutions  of 
shells,  while  the  majority  of  loops  or  arches  resemble 
in  their  convolutions  the  rapid  movement  of  rushing 
water. 

Thumb-print  identifications  have  been  extended 
to  commercial  uses  by  the  postal  savings  bank  on  the 
Philippines  at  Manila.  This  bank  has  recently  issued 
a  series  of  stamp  deposit  cards,  on  which  are  spaces 
for  stamps  of  different  values  to  be  affixed.  When 
the  depositor  has  stamps  to  the  value  of  i  peso  (50 
cents)  on  the  card  it  is  exchanged  at  the  bank  for  a 

124 


THUMB-PRINTS  NEVER  FORGED 

deposit  book,  showing  the  amount  to  his  credit.  Op- 
posite the  lines  for  the  owner's  signature  and  address 
is  a  square  ruled  off  for  the  reception  of  his  thumb- 
print,  so  that  even  if  illiterate,  depositors  may  readily 
be  identified. 

If  any  one  wishes  to  get  a  thumb-print  impression 
without  the  suspect's  knowledge,  simply  hand  him  a 
piece  of  paper,  asking  him  to  Identify  it  or  examine  it 
for  one  reason  or  another,  afterwards  sprinkling  some 
special  black  powder  over  it  which  brings  out  the 
impressions  as  clear  as  life.  Another  sort  of  white 
powder  is  used  for  bringing  out  impressions  on  glass- 
ware. 

Once  the  impression  is  secured,  the  ringers  are  classi- 
fied according  to  a  regular  plan.  The  lines  on  them 
are  divided  into  loops,  whorls,  arches,  and  composites, 
the  latter  class  made  up  of  a  collection  of  the  first 
three.  Each  pair  of  fingers  as  the  index,  little  and 
ring  fingers  has  a  special  valuation  which  is  used  to 
identify  them  and  facilitate  classification.  One  pair 
will  be  classified  according  to  the  number  of  little 
ridges  between  the  delta,  or  point  where  all  bifurcate, 
and  the  outer  ring.  If  there  are  more  than  nine  on 
one  finger,  it  is  classed  as  an  over-nine. 

It  is  seldom  that  two  similar  fingers  are  alike  and 
the  other  finger  usually  would  be  an  under-nine  finger, 
say  six.  So  there  is  the  first  pair  classified  thus,  9-6. 
The  next  two  fingers  may  have  rotary  lines  and  are 
merely  classified  as  R,  the  next  two  may  not  have 
many  lines  at  all  that  will  count,  so  are  marked  O, 
while  perhaps  the  last  pair  is  unmatched,  a  point  being 
allowed  to  one  and  nothing  to  the  other. 

Thumb  or  finger-prints  are  absolutely  serviceable 

"5 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

and  certain  in  the  detection  of  crime  or  in  establish- 
ing a  person's  identity. 

That  this  system  may  be  most  effectively  employed 
as  an  adjunct  to  the  rogue's  gallery  for  fixing  the 
identity  of  criminals  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since, 
from  various  experiments  made  it  has  been  demon- 
strated that  impressions  made  from  the  dermal  fur- 
rows of  the  thumb  or  finger  of  no  two  persons  can  be 
sufficiently  identical,  when  inspected  under  a  micro- 
scope, to  be  mistaken  one  for  the  other;  and  that  it  is 
a  powerful  agency  for  the  detection  of  criminals. 

Very  often,  on  the  scene  of  a  crime,  finger  marks 
are  found  on  glossy  surfaces  (bottles,  glasses,  window 
panes,  door  plates,  painted  and  varnished  walls,  etc.). 
By  a  comparison  of  such  impressions,  photographed 
by  a  special  process,  it  is  easy  either  to  discover  the 
maker  of  the  finger  marks  observed  at  the  scene  of 
the  crime,  or  to  establish  the  innocence  of  a  suspected 
person  whose  digital  impressions  have  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  those  marks. 

Note  and  study  fac -simile  impressions  of  thumb-prints  and 
finger-prints  in  Appendix  at  end  of  this  book. 


126 


XI 

Detecting  Forgery  with  the  Microscope 


CHAPTER  XI 
DETECTING  FORGERY  WITH  THE   MICROSCOPE 

Determining  Questionable  Signatures  By  the  Aid  of  a  Microscope  — 
A  Magnifying  Glass  Not  Powerful  Enough  —  Character  of  Ink 
Easily  Told  —  The  Microscope  and  a  Knowledge  of  Its  Use  — 
Experience  and  Education  of  an  Examiner  of  Great  Assistance  — 
An  Expert's  Opinion  —  The  Use  of  the  Microscope  Recom- 
mended —  Illustrating  a  Method  of  Forgery  —  What  a  Micro- 
scopic Examination  Reveals  —  How  to  Examine  Forged 
Handwriting  with  a  Microscope  —  Experts  and  a  Jury  — 
What  the  Best  Authorities  Recommend. 

In  all  examinations  of  questioned  signatures  to 
determine  the  individual  habit  of  the  writer  the  use 
of  the  compound  microscope  is  a  necessity  to  obtain 
the  best  field  for  study  and  analysis  for  the  reason  that 
the  most  important  details  are  often  so  minute  that 
they  cannot  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye  in  sufficient 
size  to  determine  their  individual  character  and  ac- 
curacy. A  magnifying  glass  has  but  a  limited  field 
in  this  class  of  work,  for  it  is  not  easily  held  in  position 
steadily  for  continued  observation  and  study,  besides 
it  has  not  the  requisite  power  for  the  work.  The 
lower  powers  of  the  compound  microscope  are  but 
available  for  the  examination  of  signatures  for  the 
reason  that  when  the  higher  powers  are  used  but  little 
of  the  signature  is  in  the  field  of  vision,  although  the 
power  of  the  lens  may  be  increased  when  some  par- 
ticular point  or  feature  in  the  writing  requires  greater 
enlargement  for  more  perfect  definition.  The  higher 
powers  of  the  microscope  are  sometimes  used  to  as- 

129 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

certain  the  character  of  inks  with  which  the  writing 
is  done,  and  also  to  determine  the  character  of  the 
paper  on  which  a  signature  is  written,  which  at  times 
becomes  important.  For  all  practical  uses  of  the 
microscope  in  the  examination  of  signatures  the  range 
of  object  enlargement  occurring  between  a  three-inch 
and  an  inch  objective  will  be  found  to  answer  the  pur- 
pose, as  the  various  powers  of  the  lenses  become  im- 
portant in  making  the  analysis. 

While  it  is  a  fact  that  the  microscope  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  its  uses  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  ascer- 
taining the  character  of  the  signatures,  when  the 
question  of  their  being  forged  or  genuine  is  the  object 
of  the  examination,  it  does  not  follow  that  because  a 
person  is  learned  in  the  use  of  the  microscope  in  other 
fields  of  research  that  he  is  therefore  qualified  to  be- 
come an  expert  in  handwriting.  A  peculiar  education 
made  practically  applicable  by  experience  in  this 
latter  field  of  study  is  absolutely  necessary  to  determine 
with  accuracy  what  the  microscope  reveals,  and  its 
importance  to  give  value  to  any  conclusions  reached 
by  its  use.  The  connection  of  effect  with  cause,  and 
the  determination  of  the  latter  as  a  matter  of  individ- 
ualism cannot  be  accomplished  merely  from  what  is 
seen  under  the  microscope.  The  examiner  must  by 
experience  and  education  be  fitted  to  ascertain  from 
personal  characteristics  manifested  in  the  writing  of 
a  signature  necessitated  their  appearance  as  a  matter 
of  individuality. 

From  one  of  the  best-known  European  experts  on 
handwriting  and  who  has  figured  conspicuously  in 
important  cases  some  interesting  facts  relative  to  this 
subject  recently  were  learned.  To  the  question, 


DETECTING  FORGERY  WITH  MICROSCOPE 

"What  is  the  primary  requisite  for  a  conscientious 
opinion  on  the  genuineness  of  any  submitted  hand- 
writing?" this  expert  unhesitatingly  replied,  "An 
utter  and  entire  absence  of  either  feeling  or  prejudice. 
In  other  words,  one  should  be  perfectly  dispassionate 
when  engaged  in  such  a  work  and  use  a  first-class 
compound  microscope." 

To  make  his  analysis  the  expert  uses  a  microscope 
of  great  power,  and  by  a  strict  and  close  attention  to 
the  subject-matter  he  can  determine  the  exact  means 
or  methods  employed  in  making  the  individual  letters 
and  the  formation  of  the  words  and  also  the  several 
inks  that  were  used.  Handwriting  as  defined  by  this 
expert  is  a  mechanical  operation  pure  and  simple.  Its 
general  excellence  or  the  reverse  is  largely  dependent 
on  the  education  which  the  hand  has  received.  When 
a  man  sits  down  to  write  he  mechanically  reproduces 
on  paper  what  is  in  his  mind,  and  this  may  be  said  to 
be  his  natural  handwriting.  Should  he  stop  to  think 
even  for  a  moment,  not  of  what  he  is  transferring  to 
the  paper  but  of  the  writing  itself,  he  instantly  ceases 
to  write  his  natural  hand,  the  transcription  becoming 
only  a  copy  or  drawing  from  memory. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  expert,  emphatically  expressed, 
a  person  never  writes  twice  exactly  alike.  This  is 
stated  to  be  the  point  around  which  all  his  subsequent 
developments  revolve  when  examining  a  manuscript. 
Let  several  examples  of  the  natural  handwriting  of  an 
individual  be  compared.  It  is  true  that  there  will  be 
a  general  similarity,  but,  as  has  been  asserted,  when 
placed  in  juxtaposition  or  subjected  to  a  careful  com- 
parison under  a  microscope  no  two  words  or  letters 
will  be  found  to  be  alike.  Thus  it  is  not  the  similarity 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

between  two  pieces  of  writing  that  would  arouse  sus- 
picion with  some  experts,  but  rather  the  natural  dis- 
similarity. Based  on  this  point  such  experts  occupy 
a  distinct  position  by  themselves,  since  other  experts 
take  what  is  called  the  positive  side.  With  the  first- 
named  class,  however,  handwriting  is  a  science  of 
negatives.  A  good  microscope  will  always  be  found 
a  good  detective  in  determining  the  genuineness  of 
handwriting. 

By  way  of  illustrating  one  method  of  forgery  inter- 
esting material  which  had  played  an  important  part 
in  a  court  case  was  carefully  examined.  It  consisted 
of  five  or  six  graded  photographic  enlargements  of  the 
duplicate  signature  which  were  carefully  examined 
with  the  aid  of  a  microscope.  The  original  had  been 
made  by  an  elderly  person  and  the  forger  had  used  the 
tracing  process.  To  the  naked  eye  it  appeared  to  be 
a  capital  copy;  in  fact,  it  seemed  to  bear  every  sem- 
blance of  being  genuine.  In  the  first  enlargement  of 
several  diameters  certain  inaccuracies  of  tracing  could 
be  discerned,  only,  however,  after  attention  had  been 
called  to  them  by  an  expert.  In  the  next  enlarge- 
ment these  same  errors  were  more  apparent,  and  so  on 
through  the  series.  The  largest  photograph  was  mag- 
nified several  hundred  diameters  greater  than  the 
original  and  stretched  across  quite  an  area  of  paper. 
From  an  examination  of  this  largest  one  with  a  micro- 
scope it  was  evident  that  the  forger  first  had  traced  his 
copy  with  pencil,  afterward  going  over  it  with  ink,  but 
so  irregularly  had  his  pen  followed  the  pencil  lines  that 
in  certain  portions  of  this  enlargement  there  was  room 
for  a  man's  fist  between  the  first  tracing  and  its  inky 
covering. 

132 


DETECTING  FORGERY  WITH  MICROSCOPE 

In  trying  to  detect  forged  handwriting  every  letter 
of  the  alphabet,  wherever  written,  may  be  examined 
with  a  microscope  for  the  following  characteristics: 
Size,  shading,  position  relative  to  the  horizontal  line, 
inclination  relative  to  the  vertical  line,  sharpness  of 
the  curves  and  angles,  proportion  and  relative  position 
of  the  different  parts,  and  elaboration  or  extension  of 
the  extremities.  In  scarcely  one  of  these  particulars 
can  a  man  make  two  letters  so  much  alike  that  they 
cannot  be  distinguished  by  microscopical  examination. 

Although  a  great  deal  can  be  determined  in  a  general 
way  by  close  observation  with  the  naked  eye,  it  is 
always  best  to  employ  some  magnifying  power  — 
usually  an  ordinary  hand  lens  or  pocket  magnifier  will 
suffice  —  but  the  writer  has  found  it  better  to  use  a 
microscope  objective  of  low  power  (four  or  five  di- 
ameters), which  is  provided  with  an  easily  slipping 
sleeve,  terminating  in  a  diaphragm  which  cuts  out  the 
light  entering  the  outside  rim  of  the  lens.  This  sleeve 
may  be  pushed  out  for  one  or  two  centimeters,  and  the 
particular  spot  under  examination  isolated  from  the 
adjacent  parts  without  undue  magnification.  It  is  one 
of  the  popular  fallacies  that  a  high  magnifying  power 
is  desirable  in  all  cases  of  difficulty,  but  usually  the 
reverse  is  the  case  in  questions  of  handwriting. 

Experts  have  sometimes  impressed  the  jury  with  the 
fact  that  they  had  employed  on  some  thick  and  opaque 
document,  powers  of  several  hundred  diameters  with- 
out the  lately  applied  illumination  from  the  side,  re- 
flected by  a  glass  plate,  introduced  obliquely  into  the 
tube  of  the  microscope.  Without  such  aid  no  micro- 
scopist  need  be  told  that  the  light  would  be  wanting 
to  illuminate  the  field  under  these  circumstances.  The 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

best  authorities  prescribe  a  magnifying  power  of  not 
more  than  ten  diameters  for  ordinary  observation. 
For  special  purposes  higher  powers  are  sometimes 
useful.  An  ocular  examination  of  the  ink  in  the 
various  parts  of  a  written  paper,  document  or  in- 
strument of  any  kind  will  generally  decide  whether 
it  is  the  same. 


XII 

Signature  Experts  the  Safety  of  the 
Modern  Bank 


CHAPTER  XII 

SIGNATURE    EXPERTS    THE    SAFETY    OF     THE 
MODERN    BANK 

A  New  Departure  in  Banks  —  Examining  All  Signatures  a  Sure 
Preventive  Against  Forgery  —  The  "Filling-in"  Process  — 
How  One  Forger  Operated  —  Marvelous  Accuracy  of  a  Paying 
Teller  —  How  He  Attained  Perfection  —  How  Signature  Clerks 
Work  —  A  Common  Dodge  of  Forgers  —  Post  Dated  Checks  — 
A  System  That  Prevents  Forged  and  Raised  Checks  —  Not  a 
Forged  or  Raised  Check  Paid  in  Years. 

[The  following  article  has  been  kindly  contributed 
by  the  manager  of  one  of  the  largest  English  banks, 
located  in  London.] 

One  of  the  most  trying  positions  in  our  business,  is 
that  of  signature  expert — the  man  who  has  to  examine 
daily  every  draft  that  comes  in  through  the  clearing 
house  and  vouch  for  its  genuineness.  Our  bank,  one 
of  the  largest  in  London,  employs  six  clerks  who  do 
nothing  all  day  long  but  examine  checks,  and  when  I 
tell  you  that  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  10,000  drafts 
to  come  in  during  a  single  day  you  will  understand 
that  the  job  is  not  altogether  the  sinecure  it  is  popu- 
larly supposed  to  be. 

These  clerks  have  not  only  to  scrutinize  the  signa- 
tures both  of  drawer  and  drawee,  but  also  examine 
the  "filling-in,"  the  latter  being  just  as  important, 
perhaps  more  so  from  a  monetary  point  of  view,  as 
the  signatures.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  commonest 
forgery  with  which  we  have  to  deal  is  the  "raising"  of 
checks,  and  a  forger  of  this  nature  generally  chooses 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

a  check  bearing  a  genuine  signature  but  having  very 
little  "filling-in." 

For  instance,  he  knows  that  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  raise  a  check  from  £3  to  £3000,  for  all  he  has  to  do 
is  to  erase  the  word  "pounds,"  insert  the  word 
"thousand,"  and  then  add  the  erased  word  again.  I 
have  seen  plenty  of  this  kind  of  work  during  the  time  I 
have  been  examining  checks. 

One  of  the  most  impudent  pieces  of  forgery,  however, 
that  I  ever  came  across  was  a  check  raised  from  ^5  to 
£500.  The  forger  had  evidently  relied  on  colossal  im- 
pudence carrying  him  through,  for  he  had  simply  added 
a  couple  of  ciphers  and  then  between  the  words  " five" 
and  "pounds"  had  placed  an  omission  mark  and 
written  the  word  "hundred"  above,  adding  the  initials 
of  the  drawer  of  the  check  just  to  give  the  thing  a  look 
of  careless  genuineness. 

It  was  so  astounding  a  piece  of  cool  audacity  that  we 
had  bets  on  the  check,  two  of  my  assistants  declaring 
it  to  be  O.  K.,  while  the  other  three  and  myself  declared 
it  to  be  a  forgery.  Further  inquiries,  of  course,  proved 
that  the  opinion  of  the  majority  was  the  correct  one. 

It  is  marvelous  what  a  vast  number  of  signatures 
some  paying  tellers  will  carry  in  their  mind 's  eye,  as  it 
were,  and  thus  be  able  to  pass  checks  by  the  thousand 
without  once  having  to  refer  to  the  signature  books. 
We  had  a  paying  teller  here  a  few  years  ago  who  was 
little  less  than  a  wonder.  He  knew  perfectly  the  sig- 
natures of  at  least  5000  customers,  and  could  detect 
the  alteration  of  a  stroke  in  any  one  of  them  in  an 
instant. 

More  remarkable  still  was  the  fact  that  he  recognized 
with  equal  facility  the  signatures  of  those  customers 

138 


SIGNATURE  EXPERTS  AND  SAFETY 

whose  checks  only  came  in  once  or  twice  a  year.  But 
he  made  an  art  of  his  work,  and  I  afterward  discovered 
that  most  of  his  evenings  were  spent  in  studying  and 
learning  the  signatures  of  the  customers,  for  he  was  a 
wonderful  hand  at  copying  writing,  and  whenever  a 
new  signature  would  come  in,  one  with  which  he  was 
not  acquainted,  he  would  at  once  facsimile  it  in  his 
pocket-book,  and  by  the  next  morning  would  be  able 
to  recognize  it  among  10,000. 

Signature  clerks  are  not,  as  a  rule,  supposed  to  make 
copies  of  customers '  autographs,  but  many  of  them  do, 
and  some  men  are  clever  enough  at  the  work  to  even 
deceive  themselves. 

Of  course,  it  is  understood  that  when  the  signature 
clerks  are  not  examining  checks  they  are  studying  the 
autograph  books  in  order  to  familiarize  themselves 
with  the  calligraphy  of  every  customer.  Each  check, 
you  must  understand,  passes  through  the  hands  of  each 
clerk  in  turn,  so  that  if  one  should  pass  a  forgery  or  a 
"raised"  draft  it  is  very  unlikely  that  the  entire  staff 
would  do  so.  All  these  checks,  of  course,  come  through 
the  clearing  house,  and  if  we  should  pass  a  forged  draft 
and  not  find  out  our  mistake  before  three  o  'clock  in  the 
afternoon  our  bank  would  be  held  responsible.  One 
of  the  commonest  dodges  adopted  by  the  modern  check- 
forger  is  to  get  a  customer  of  some  small  country  bank 
to  introduce  him  to  that  institution  as  a  likely  depositor. 
On  the  recommendation  of  the  friend  (who  is  probably 
quite  unaware  that  the  acquaintance  he  made  some 
few  months  ago  is  a  "  wrong  'un")  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  accepting  their  new  client's  check  for  £2000,  and  the 
following  day,  when  the  same  customer  calls  and  with- 
draws £100  to  ^500,  as  the  case  may  be,  he  is  politely 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

handed  the  cash,  and  then,  of  course,  loses  no  time  in 
skipping  the  town.  After  the  bogus  customer's  check 
has  passed  through  the  clearing  house  it  is  returned  to 
the  bank  on  which  it  has  been  drawn  and  the  fraud  is 
at  once  discovered. 

Another  part  of  a  signature  clerk's  duties  is  to  see 
that  no  checks  are  post-dated,  as  of  course  no  drafts 
must  be  paid  until  they  fall  due.  On  occasions  a  care- 
less man  will  post-date  a  check,  but  as  a  rule  the  mistake 
is  purposely  made.  This  spotting  of  post-dated  checks, 
however,  is  the  easiest  part  of  a  signature  clerk 's  work, 
and  it  is  very  seldom  that  a  check  so  dated  escapes  him. 
Then,  again,  we  are  often  notified  that  payment  on 
certain  checks  has  been  stopped,  and  the  clerks  have 
to  be  on  the  lookout  for  these,  and  it  must  be  a  very 
careless  staff  indeed  that  lets  them  slip  by.  We  are 
held  responsible  for  all  checks  passed  after  we  have  re- 
ceived notice  to  stop  payment. 

But  it  is  very  seldom  now,  owing  to  the  cleverness 
of  the  experts,  that  any  forged  checks,  "raised "  checks, 
post-dated  checks,  or  stopped  checks  pass  the  vigilant 
eyes  of  our  staff  without  being  detected,  but  when  one 
does — well,  although  the  signature  clerks  are  not  held 
monetarily  responsible  for  the  loss,  it  means  a  bad 
mark  against  them  in  the  future,  and  they  feel  its 
effects  next  time  promotions  or  "rises"  are  being 
handed  out. 

Altogether,  though  the  work  is  interesting,  and  even 
fascinating  in  a  way,  the  responsibilities  are  so  great 
that  the  effect  on  the  nerves  is  often  very  trying  at 
times.  One  thing  we  are  particular  about,  and  that 
is  to  take  no  chances.  If  we  have  the  slightest  doubt 
about  the  genuineness  of  a  check  we  at  once  communi- 

140 


SIGNATURE  EXPERTS  AND  SAFETY 

cate,  either  by  telegraph,  special  messenger,  or  tele- 
phone, with  the  supposed  drawer  of  the  check,  and  in 
this  way  turn  doubt  into  certainty.  During  the  last 
three  years  not  a  single  wrong  check  has  passed  our 
vigilant  optics,  and,  though  I  say  it  who  should  not,  I 
do  not  believe  there  is  a  cleverer  set  of  experts  any 
where  than  those  who  compose  my  staff. 


141 


XIII 
How  to  Determine  Age  of  Any  Writing 


CHAPTER   XIII 
HOW   TO   DETERMINE   AGE    OF    ANY    WRITING 

The  Different  Kinds  of  Ink  Met  With  —  Inks  That  Darken  by 
Exposure  to  Sunlight  and  Air  —  Introduction  of  Aniline  Colors 
to  Determine  the  Age  of  Writings  —  An  Almost  Infallible  Rule 
to  Follow  —  To  Determine  Approximate  Age  of  Ink  Possible  — 
The  Ammonia  System  a  Sure  One  —  A  Question  of  Great  Interest 
to  Bankers  and  Bank  Employes  —  Thick  Inks  and  Thin  Inks  — 
So-called  Safety  Inks  That  Are  Not  Safe  —  How  to  Restore 
Faded  Inks  —  An  Infallible  Rule  —  Restoring  Faded  Writing — 
Restored  by  the  Silk  and  Cotton  System  That  Anyone  Can 
Arrange  —  Danger  of  Exposing  Restored  Writing  to  the  Sun. 

The  inks  in  common  use  over  the  United  States  at 
the  present  time,  and  for  some  years  past,  are  not  as 
numerous  as  one  might  be  led  to  conclude.  They  are 
probably  fifteen  or  at  most  twenty  in  all,  including  the 
most  popular  blue,  red,  magenta,  and  green  inks.  But 
among  these  there  is  a  notable  difference  in  character. 
Some  are  thick,  heavy,  and  glossy,  in  character,  and 
flow  sluggishly  from  the  pen.  Few  of  these  become 
much  darker  by  standing.  In  this  class  will  be  found 
the  copying  inks  and  those  in  which  a  large  quantity 
of  gums  or  similar  thickening  agents  are  used. 

Other  inks  are  pale,  limpid,  and  flow  easily  from  the 
pen,  and  this  class  usually  shows  a  notable  darkening 
by  exposure  to  sunlight  and  air.  It  will  be  unneces- 
sary here  to  refer  more  particularly  to  the  intermediate 
varieties  or  to  discuss  their  various  composition. 

It  should  be  remembered  here  that  in  the  last  twenty 
years,  or  since  the  introduction  into  general  commerce 

MS 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

of  aniline  colors,  which  Hofmann  discovered  in  1856, 
these  latter  have  been  employed  more  and  more  in 
writing  fluids ;  not  only  in  mixtures  of  which  they  are 
the  principal  ingredients,  but  to  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree in  all  inks.  Their  presence,  even  in  small  quan- 
tity, in  the  gallo-tannate  of  iron  and  logwood  inks  can 
be  generally  detected  by  an  iridescent  and  semi- 
metallic  luster. 

To  assist  in  determining  the  ages  of  writings  by  one 
and  the  same  ink,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  older 
the  writing  the  less  soluble  it  is  in  dilute  ammonia. 
If  the  writing  be  lightly  touched  with  a  brush  dipped 
in  ten-per-cent  ammonia,  the  later  writing  will  always 
give  up  more  or  less  soluble  matter  to  the  ammonia 
before  the  earlier.  In  case  of  inks  of  different  kinds 
this  test  is  not  serviceable,  for  characters  written  in 
logwood  ink,  for  instance,  will  always  give  up  their 
soluble  material  sooner  than  nutgall  inks,  even  if  the 
last  named  be  later  applied.  To  estimate  the  age  of 
writing  from  the  amount  of  bleaching  in  a  given  time 
by  hydrochloric  or  oxalic  acid  is  very  precarious,  be- 
cause the  thickness  of  the  ink  film  in  a  written  charac- 
ter is  not  always  the  same,  and  the  acid  bleaches  the 
thinner  layer  sooner  than  the  thicker. 

The  determination  of  the  age  of  a  written  paper  is  a 
problem  difficult  of  solution.  According  to  F.  Carr6 
the  age  can  be  approximately  determined  if  the  char- 
acters written  in  iron  ink  are  pressed  in  a  copying  press 
and  a  commercial  hydrochloric  acid  diluted  with  eleven 
parts  of  water  is  substituted  for  water ;  or,  if  the  written 
characters  are  treated  for  some  time  with  this  diluted 
acid. 

The  explanation  is  that  the  ink  changes  in  time,  its 

146 


HOW  TO  DETERMINE  AGE  OF  ANY  WRITING 

organic  substance  disappears  little  by  little,  and  leaves 
behind  an  iron  compound,  which  in  part  is  not  attacked 
even  by  acids. 

An  unsized  paper  is  impregnated  with  the  described 
diluted  acid,  copied  with  the  press,  and  a  copy  from 
writing  eight  or  ten  years  old  can  be  obtained  as 
easily  as  one  by  means  of  water  from  a  writing  one  day 
old. 

A  writing  thirty  years  old  gives,  by  this  method,  a 
copy  hardly  legible,  and  one  over  sixty  years  old,  a 
copy  hardly  visible.  In  order  to  protect  the  paper 
against  the  action  of  the  acid,  it  should  be  drawn 
through  ammoniacal  water. 

To  determine  the  exact  age  of  writings  by  the  ink 
is  not  easy.  The  approximate  age  may  be  deter- 
mined with  some  degree  of  certainty.  If  ink-writings 
are  but  a  few  days  old,  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  them 
from  other  writing  years  old.  But  to  tell  by  the  ink 
which  of  two  writings  is  the  older,  when  one  is  but  two 
months  and  the  other  two  years,  is,  as  a  rule,  im- 
possible. 

Where  during  the  progress  of  a  trial  a  document  pur- 
porting to  be  years  old  is  introduced  in  evidence,  and 
it  can  be  shown  that  it  is  but  a  few  days  old,  having 
been  prepared  for  the  occasion,  ordinarily  the  age  of 
the  writing  will  be  comparatively  easy  of  demonstration 
by  the  expert.  Oxidization  will  not  have  set  in  to  any 
extent,  if  the  ink  is  very  fresh,  and  this,  with  a  careful 
watching  of  the  color  for  any  darkening,  will  determine 
whether  or  not  the  ink  is  fresh.  This  ink  study  should 
be  a  question  of  the  utmost  interest  to  bankers  and 
bank  employes. 

A  ten-per-cent  solution  of  ammonia  applied  to  two 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

inks  in  question  will  show  which  is  the  fresher.  The 
older  ink  will  resist  the  action  of  the  ammonia  longer 
and  give  up  less  soluble  matter  than  the  newer  writing. 
Nutgall,  and  logwood  inks,  of  course,  should  not  be 
tested  comparatively  by  this  method,  as  the  logwood 
ink  will  respond  to  the  ammonia  sooner  than  the  nut- 
gall  ink. 

F.  Carre  also  gives  another  method  for  determining, 
approximately,  the  age  of  ink-writings.  If  the  writing 
is  in  iron  ink,  and  is  moistened  with  a  solution  of  one 
part  of  hydrochloric  acid  to  eleven  parts  of  water  and 
put  in  letter-copying  press  and  copy  transferred  to 
copy  paper  it  should  give  a  strong  copy,  if  but  ten 
years  old;  a  hardly  legible  copy,  if  thirty  years  old; 
and  if  sixty  years  old,  a  few  marks  will  be  copied,  but 
they  will  not  be  legible. 

If  the  same  solution  be  used  in  place  of  water,  as  in 
the  ordinary  letter-copying  process  and  the  copying 
paper  be  saturated  with  it,  the  result  will  be  the  same. 

To  determine  the  age  of  writing  by  applying  bleach- 
ing acids  and  watching  results  and  counting  the  seconds 
is  a  dangerous  method.  Thick  inks  will  respond  to  the 
acids  slower  than  thin,  and  the  time  comparisons  are 
misleading. 

Safety  inks,  so-called,  designed  to  resist  the  action 
of  acids  and  alkalies  have  been  repeatedly  put  upon 
the  market,  but  no  such  ink  has  ever  successfully 
challenged  the  world  and  proved  its  title  of  safety. 

Many  chemicals  are  recommended  as  restorations 
for  faded  writing,  but  these  should  be  avoided  as  far 
as  possible,  as  they  are  liable  to  stain,  disfigure  the 
paper,  and  in  the  end  make  matters  materially  worse. 
Familiarity  with  particular  handwritings  after  some 

148 


HOW  TO  DETERMINE  AGE  OF  ANY  WRITING 

practice  will  enable  the  reader  to  make  out  otherwise 
unintelligible  words  without  any  other  assistant  than 
a  powerful  magnifying  glass. 

If  the  ink  is  very  faint,  the  simplest  and  most  harm- 
less restorative  is  sulphate  of  ammonia,  but  its  loath- 
some smell  once  encountered  is  not  easily  forgotten. 
The  experiment  in  consequence  is  very  seldom  repeated 
for  the  result  is  scarcely  good  enough  to  risk  a  repeti- 
tion of  so  horrible  a  smell. 

The  writing  on  old  and  faded  documents  may  be 
restored,  by  chemical  treatment,  turning  the  iron  salt 
still  remaining  into  ferrous  sulphate.  A  process  which 
will  restore  the  writing  temporarily  is  as  follows:  A 
box  four  or  five  inches  deep  and  long  and  broad  enough 
to  hold  the  document,  with  a  glass,  is  needed.  A  net 
of  fine  white  silk  or  cotton  threads  is  stretched  across 
the  box  at  about  one  half  the  depth.  Two  saucers 
containing  yellow  ammonium  hydrosulphide  are  placed 
in  the  bottom  of  the  box.  By  means  of  a  clean  sponge 
or  brush,  moisten  the  paper  with  distilled  water ;  then 
place  it  on  the  net  with  the  writing  side  down.  The 
action  of  the  vapor  of  the  ammonium  hydrosulphide 
will  cause  the  obliterated  writing  to  slowly  turn  brown, 
then  black.  But  within  a  short  time  after  removal 
from  the  box  the  writing  will  again  disappear. 

Another  method  is  to  wash  the  document  carefully 
in  a  solution  of  hydrochloric  acid,  one  part,  and  distilled 
water,  one  hundred  parts.  Dry  the  moistened  paper 
somewhat,  leaving  it  just  moist  enough  to  hold  a  uni- 
form layer  of  fine  yellow  prussiate  of  potash.  A  plate 
of  glass  with  a  light  pressure  should  be  placed  on  this. 
In  a  few  hours  dry  the  paper  thoroughly,  and  carefully 
brush  off  the  yellow  prussiate  of  potash.  The  writing 

149 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

should  come  out  a  Prussian  blue.  This  restored  writ- 
ing will  be  permanent  unless  exposed  too  much  to  the 
light. 

The  hydrochloric  acid  must  be  thoroughly  removed ; 
otherwise,  it  will  destroy  the  paper.  Crystallized  soda, 
two  parts,  and  distilled  water,  one  hundred  parts,  in 
solution,  will  counteract  the  hydrochloric  acid,  if  the 
document  is  allowed  to  float  on  it  for  twenty-four 
hours. 


150 


XIV 

Detecting  Fraud  and  Forgery  in  Papers 
and  Documents 


CHAPTER   XIV 

DETECTING  FRAUD    AND  FORGERY  IN  PAPERS 
AND   DOCUMENTS 

Infallible  Rules  for  the  Detection  of  Same  —  New  Methods  of 
Research  —  Changing  Wills  and  Books  of  Accounts  —  Judg- 
ment of  the  Naked  Eye  —  Using  a  Microscope  or  Magnifying 
Glass  —  Changeable  Effects  of  Ink  —  How  to  Detect  the  Use 
of  Different  Inks  —  Sized  Papers  Not  Easily  Altered  —  Inks 
That  Produce  Chemical  Effects  —  Inks  That  Destroy  Fiber  of 
Paper  —  How  to  Test  Tampered  or  Altered  Documents  — 
Treating  Papers  Suspected  of  Forgery  —  Using  Water  to  Detect 
Fraud  —  Discovering  Scratched  Paper  —  Means  •  Forgers  Use 
to  Mask  Fraudulent  Operations  —  How  to  Prepare  and  Handle 
Test  Papers  —  Detecting  Paper  That  Has  Been  Washed  — 
Various  Other  Valuable  Tests  to  Determine  Forgery  —  A 
Simple  Operation  That  Anyone  Can  Apply — Iodine  Used  On 
Papers  and  Documents  —  An  Alcohol  Test  That  is  Certain  — 
Bringing  Out  Telltale  Spots  —  Double  Advantage  of  Certain 
Tests  —  Reappearance  of  Former  Letters  or  Figures  —  What 
Genuine  Writing  Reveals  —  When  an  Entire  Paper  or  Document 
is  Forged. 

The  art  of  detecting  forgery  or  fraud,  in  checks, 
drafts,  documents,  seals,  writing  materials,  or  in  the 
characters  themselves  is  a  study  that  has  attracted 
handwriting  experts  since  its  study  was  taken  up. 
There  are  almost  infallible  rules  for  the  work  and  in 
this  chapter  is  given  several  new  methods  of  research 
that  will  prove  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  public. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  that  wills  and 
other  public  documents  are  changed  by  the  insertion 
of  extra  .or  substituted  pages,  thereby  changing  the 
character  of  the  instrument.  Where  this  is  suspected 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

careful  inspection  of  the  paper  should  be  made  —  first, 
as  to  its  shade  of  color  and  fiber,  under  a  microscope ; 
second,  as  to  its  ruling;  third,  as  to  its  water-mark; 
fourth,  as  to  any  indications  that  the  sheets  have  been 
separated  since  their  original  attachment;  fifth,  as  to 
the  writing  —  whether  or  not  it  bears  the  harmonious 
character  of  the  continuous  writing,  with  the  same  pen 
and  ink,  and  coincident  circumstances,  or  if  type- 
written, whether  or  not  by  the  same  operator  or  the 
same  machine.  It  would  be  a  remarkable  fact  if  such 
change  were  to  be  made  without  betraying  some  tangi- 
ble proof  in  some  one  or  more  of  the  above  enumerated 
respects. 

Books  of  accounts  are  often  changed  by  adding  ficti- 
tious or  fraudulent  entries  in  such  spaces  as  may  have 
been  left  between  the  regular  entries  or  at  the  bottom 
of  the  pages  where  there  is  a  vacant  space.  Where 
such  entries  are  suspected,  there  should  be  at  first  a 
careful  inspection,  of  the  writing  as  to  its  general  har- 
mony with  that  which  precedes  and  follows,  as  to  its 
size,  slope,  spacing,  ink,  and  pen  used,  and  if  in  a  book 
of  original  entry,  the  suspected  entry  should  be  traced 
through  other  books,  to  see  if  it  is  properly  entered  as 
to  time  and  place,  or  vice  versa. 

The  judgment  by  the  naked  eye  as  to  the  colors  or 
shades  of  two  inks  in  the  same  paper  or  document  is 
very  likely  to  be  erroneous  for  the  reason  that  when  a 
lighter  ink  is  more  heavily  massed  than  a  darker  one 
the  effect  on  the  eye  is  as  if  it  were  the  darker.  Under 
a  microscope  or  magnifying  glass  the  field  is  more 
restricted,  the  finer  lines  are  broadened,  and  one  has 
larger  areas  of  ink  to  compare  with  less  surface  of 
strongly  contrasted  white  paper.  Then,  again,  an 

154 


FORGERY   IN   PAPERS  AND   DOCUMENTS 

ink  without  noticeable  bluish  tinge  to  the  naked  eye 
may  appear  quite  blue  under  the  glass  where  the  films 
of  ink  are  broadened  and  thinned  and  their  characters 
better  observed. 

In  order  to  judge  whether  two  marks  have  been 
made  by  the  same  ink,  they  should  be  viewed  by  re- 
flected light  to  note  the  color,  luster  and  thickness  of 
the  ink  film.  Many  inks  blot  or  "run"  on  badly 
sized  paper  —  i.e.,  the  lines  are  accompanied  by  a 
paler  border  which  renders  their  edges  less  well  defined. 

Even  on  well-sized  papers  this  class  of  inks  usually 
exhibits  only  a  stained  line  of  no  appreciable  thick- 
ness where  the  fluid  has  touched  the  paper. 

The  copying  and  glossy  inks,  which  often  contain 
a  considerable  quantity  of  gum,  do  not  "run"  or  blot 
even  on  partially  sized  paper,  and  show  under  the 
glass  a  convexity  on  the  surface  of  the  line  and  an 
appreciable  thickness  of  the  film. 

It  does  not  always  follow  when  an  ink  has  made  a 
blur  on  one  part  of  the  paper  and  not  on  another  that 
the  paper  has  been  tampered  with.  A  drop  of  water 
accidentally  let  fall  on  the  blank  page  will  frequently 
affect  the  sizing  in  that  place,  and,  besides,  all  papers 
are  not  evenly  sized  in  every  part. 

The  inks  rich  in  gum,  or  those  concentrated  by  evap- 
oration from  standing  in  an  open  inkstand,  give  a  more 
lustrous  and  thicker  stroke.  Some  inks  penetrate 
deeper  into  the  paper  than  others,  and  some  produce 
chemical  effects  upon  the  sizing  and  even  upon  the 
paper  itself,  so  that  the  characters  can  easily  be  rec- 
ognized on  the  underside  of  the  sheet.  In  some  old 
documents  the  ink  has  been  known  to  so  far  destroy 
the  fiber  of  the  paper  that  a  slight  agitation  of  the 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

sheet  would  shake  out  as  dust  much  of  the  part  which 
it  covered,  thus  leaving  an  imperfect  stencil  plate  of 
the  original  writing. 

Distilled  water  is  very  useful  in  many  cases  to  as- 
certain whether  paper  has  been  scratched  and  partially 
sized  or  treated  with  resin.  If  it  has  not  been  altered 
by  chemical  agents,  the  partial  sizing  and  the  resinous 
matter  used  give  to  the  paper  a  peculiar  appearance. 
Sizing  takes  away  from  the  whiteness  of  the  paper,  and, 
thinned  by  the  scratching  or  washing,  it  absorbs  much 
more  quickly  even  when  it  has  been  partially  sized. 

A  simple  mode  of  operation  is  to  place  a  document 
or  paper  suspected  of  being  a  forgery,  on  a  sheet  of 
paper  or  better  still,  on  a  piece  of  glass ;  then  moisten 
little  by  little  with  a  paint  brush  all  parts  of  it,  paying 
close  attention  to  the  behavior  of  the  liquid  as  it 
comes  in  contact  with  the  paper. 

By  means  of  water  one  can  discover  what  acids, 
alkalis,  or  salts  the  parts  of  the  paper  with  colored 
borders  or  white  spots  contain. 

With  the  aid  of  a  pipette  cover  these  spots  with 
water  and  let  it  remain  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes; 
then  with  the  pipette  remove  the  liquid  and  examine 
the  products  it  holds  in  solution.  Afterwards  make  a 
comparative  experiment  on  another  part  of  the  paper 
which  is  neither  spotted  nor  whitened. 

If  the  original  writing  has  been  done  with  a  very 
acid  ink  on  a  paper  containing  a  carbonate,  such  as 
calcium  carbonate,  the  ink,  in  attacking  the  calcareous 
salt,  stains  the  paper,  so  that  if  the  forger  has  re- 
moved the  ferruginous  salts  this  removal  is  denoted 
by  the  semi-transparence  that  water  gives  to  the  paper. 

To  study  carefully  the  action  of  the  water  it  is 

156 


FORGERY  IN  PAPERS  AND  DOCUMENTS 

necessary  to  repeat  the  experiment  several  times, 
allowing  the  paper  to  dry  thoroughly  before  recom- 
mencing it. 

According  to  Tarry,  it  is  necessary  to  have  recourse 
to  alcohol  to  discover  whether  the  paper  has  been 
scratched  in  any  of  the  parts  and  then  covered  with  a 
resinous  matter  to  prevent  the  ink  from  blotting. 

Place  the  document  on  a  sheet  of  white  paper  and  with 
a  paint  brush  dipped  in  alcohol  of  specific  gravity  0.86 
or  0.87  cover  the  place  supposed  to  have  been  tampered 
with.  It  may  be  discovered  if  the  writing  thickens  and 
runs  when  the  alcohol  has  dissolved  the  resin. 

Hold  the  paper  moistened  with  alcohol  between  the 
eye  and  the  light ;  the  thinning  of  the  paper  shows  the 
work  of  the  forger. 

Some  more  skillful  forgers  use  paste  and  resin  at  the 
same  time  to  mask  their  fraudulent  operations ;  in  this 
case  hike-warm  water  should  be  first  employed  and 
then  alcohol;  water  to  dilute  the  paste,  and  alcohol 
to  dissolve  the  resin.  The  result  is  that  the  ink  added 
on  the  places  scratched  out  spreads,  and  the  forgery  is 
easily  seen. 

Test-papers  (litmus,  mauve,  and  Georgina  paper) 
serve  to  determine  whether  a  paper  has  been  washed 
either  by  the  help  of  chemical  agents,  acids  incom- 
pletely removed,  or  the  surplus  of  which  has  been  sat- 
urated by  an  alkali,  or  by  the  help  of  alkaline  sub- 
stances. The  change  of  the  color  to  red  indicates  an 
acid  substance ;  an  alkali  would  turn  the  reddened  lit- 
mus paper  to  blue,  and  the  mauve  and  Georgina  test- 
papers  to  green. 

Take  a  sheet  of  test-paper  of  the  same  dimensions 
as  the  document  to  be  examined,  moisten  it,  and  cover 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

it  underneath  with  a  sheet  of  Swedish  filter-paper. 
These  two  sheets  together  (the  filter-paper  under- 
neath) are  then  applied  to  the  document  which  has 
been  moistened  already.  The  whole  is  then  laid  be- 
tween two  quires  of  paper,  covered  by  a  weighted 
board,  and  left  in  this  condition  for  about  an  hour. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  examine  the  test-paper  to  see 
if  it  has  partly  or  altogether  changed  color.  This 
examination  finished,  put  the  test-paper  in  contact 
with  distilled  water,  to  be  afterwards  removed  and 
tried  by  appropriate  tests  to  discover  the  nature  of 
the  alkali  or  acid  present. 

Silver  nitrate  is  also  used  to  discover  whether  the 
paper  has  been  washed  with  chlorine  or  chlorites.  A 
paper  in  that  way  becomes  acid.  The  chlorine  changes 
to  hydrochloric  acid,  which  dissolves  in  the  water 
with  which  the  suspected  document  or  paper  is  moist- 
ened, and  at  the  contact  of  silver  nitrate  little  spots  of 
silver  chloride  appear. 

There  are  various  other  tests  such  as  gallo-tannic 
acid  or  infusion  of  nutgalls  prepared  a  short  time 
before  application  and  may  be  used  with  advantage 
to  restore  writings  that  have  been  removed  by  washing. 
Place  the  document  or  paper  on  a  sheet  of  white  paper 
and  moisten  the  whole  of  its  surface  with  a  paint 
brush  dipped  in  the  reagent,  taking  care  not  to  rub  it 
or  strongly  press  it.  When  the  surface  is  well  impreg- 
nated allow  the  solution  to  act  for  an  hour,  and  at  the 
end  of  this  time  examine  the  document  again.  Then 
moisten  it  a  second  time  and  the  following  day,  exam- 
ine the  results.  Repeat  the  moistening  several  times 
if  necessary,  for  it  often  takes  some  time  to  make  the 
traces  of  writing  reappear. 

158 


FORGERY   IN   PAPERS  AND   DOCUMENTS 

Chevallier  and  Lassaigne  experimented  together  on 
the  effect  produced  by  the  vapor  of  iodine  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  papers  or  documents  upon  which  the  alter- 
ation of  writing  was  suspected.  Take  a  bottle  with  a 
wide  mouth  from  ten  to  eleven  centimeters  in  height, 
and  the  opening  from  five  to  six  centimeters  in  width. 
This  last  is  covered  by  a  disk  of  unpolished  glass.  Into 
the  bottom  of  this  vessel  introduce  from  twenty  to 
thirty  grams  of  iodine  in  crystals. 

Place  the  portion  of  paper  on  which  the  vapor  of 
iodine  is  to  act  at  the  opening  of  the  bottle,  and  cover 
it  with  the  stopper  of  unpolished  glass,  on  which  put 
a  weight  so  as  to  exert  a  slight  pressure,  and  in  order 
that  the  aperture  may  be  hermetically  closed.  Then 
allow  the  vapor  of  iodine  to  act  on  the  dry  paper  for 
three  or  four  minutes  at  the  temperature  of  15°  to  16° 
C.  and  examine  it  attentively.  When  the  surface  has 
not  been  spotted  by  any  liquid  (water,  alcohol,  salt 
water,  vinegar,  saliva,  tears,  urine  acids,  acid  salts,  or 
alkalis)  a  uniform  pale-yellow  or  yellowish-brown  tinge 
will  be  noticed  on  all  parts  of  the  paper  exposed  to  the 
vapor  of  iodine. 

Otherwise  a  different  and  easily  distinguished  tinge 
shows  itself  on  the  surface  that  has  been  moistened 
and  then  dried  in  the  open  air. 

Machine-made  papers  with  starchy  and  resinous  siz- 
ing give  such  decided  reactions  that  sometimes  it  is  pos- 
sible to  distinguish  by  the  color  the  portion  of  the  paper 
treated  with  alcohol  from  that  moistened  with  water. 
The  spot  produced  by  alcohol  takes  a  kind  of  yellow 
tinge;  that  formed  by  water  becomes  a  violet  blue, 
more  or  less  deep,  after  having  dried  at  an  ordinary 
temperature.  As  to  the  spots  produced  by  other 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

aqueous  liquids,  they  approach  in  appearance,  though 
not  in  intensity,  those  occasioned  by  pure  water. 
Feeble  acids,  or  those  diluted  by  water,  act  like  water ; 
but  the  concentrated  mineral  acids,  in  altering  more 
or  less  the  substance  of  the  sizing,  produce  spots  that 
present  differences. 

Spots  which  become  apparent  by  using  vapor  of 
iodine  are  due  to  chemical  agents  whose  strength  has 
altered  either  the  fibers  of  the  surface,  or  the  paste 
uniting  them. 

In  a  word,  the  test  of  a  document  or  paper  by  vapor 
of  iodine  has  the  double  advantage  of  indicating  the 
place  of  the  supposed  alteration  and  operating  after- 
wards with  appropriate  reagents  to  bring  back  the 
traces  of  ink.  It  is  only  the  reappearance  of  former 
letters  or  figures  written  or  effaced  that  demonstrates 
forgery.  Much  time  may  be  profitably  spent  in  merely 
scanning  each  letter  of  a  document,  and  the  writing 
by  lines,  paragraphs,  and  pages  before  a  closer  scru- 
tiny. Gradually,  if  the  writing  be  genuine,  its  char- 
acter will  begin  to  reveal  itself,  and  unconsciously  a 
hypothesis  as  to  the  physical  causes  of  the  irregulari- 
ties or  characteristics  will  be  formed. 

When  an  entire  document  or  page  is  forged,  the 
ornamentation,  flourishes,  or  the  capitals  at  its  head 
will  often  be  seen  to  be  out  of  keeping,  either  with  its 
nature  or  with  the  supposed  author's  habits  in  similar 
cases.  In  a  writing  all  must  agree,  place,  day,  year, 
handwriting,  superscription  or  heading,  signature, 
and  material  carrying  the  writing,  especially  paper, 
both  as  to  constitution  and  color  and  ink. 

See  illustrations  of  various  kinds  of  handwriting  at  end  of  this 
book. 

1 60 


XV 

Guided  Handwriting  and  Method  Used 


CHAPTER  XV 
GUIDED   HANDWRITING  AND   METHOD   USED 

The  Most  Frequent  and  Dangerous  Method  of  Forgery  —  How  to 
Detect  a  Guided  Signature — What  Guided  Handwriting  Is  and 
How  It  Is  Done  —  Character  of  Such  Writing  —  Writing  by  a 
Guided  Hand  —  Difficulty  in  Writing  —  Force  Exercised  by 
Joint  Hands  —  A  Hand  More  or  Less  Passive  —  Work  of  the 
Controlling  Hand  —  How  Guided  Writing  Appears  —  Two 
Writers  Acting  in  Opposition  —  Distorted  Writing  —  How  a 
Legitimate  Guided  Hand  is  Directed  and  Supported  —  Pen 
Motion  Necessary  to  Produce  Same  —  Influence  in  Guiding  a 
Stronger  Hand  —  Avoiding  an  Unnatural  and  Cramped  Position 
—  Effect  of  the  Brain  on  Guided  Hand  —  Separating  Charac- 
teristics From  Guided  Joint  Signature  —  Detecting  Writing  by 
a  System  of  Measurement. 

Guided  handwriting  is  one  of  the  most  frequent 
means  of  forgery  and  oftentimes  the  most  difficult 
to  detect.  It  has  been  established  that  with  care  the 
elements  of  each  handwriting  can  be  detected  and 
proven  in  a  guided  signature.  The  leading  handwrit- 
ing experts  of  the  world  are  unanimous  in  declaring 
that  it  is  possible  for  holding  another's  hand  in  making 
a  guided  signature  to  infuse  the  character  of  the 
guider's  hand  into  the  writing. 

Guided  handwriting  is  the  writing  produced  by  two 
hands  conjointly  and  is  usually  erratic,  and  at  first 
sight,  hard  to  connect  with  the  handwriting  of  any  one 
person. 

The  character  and  quality  of  writing  in  case  of  a 
controlled  or  assisted  hand  must  depend  largely  upon 
the  relative  force  exercised  by  the  joint  hands.  The 

163 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

difficulty  in  writing  arises  from  the  antagonizing 
motion  of  one  hand  upon  the  other,  which  is  likely  to 
produce  an  unintelligible  scrawl,  having  little  or  none 
of  the  habitual  characteristics  of  either  hand. 

Where  one  hand  is  more  or  less  passive,  the  control- 
ling hand  doing  the  writing,  its  characteristics  may  be 
more  or  less  manifest  in  the  writing.  But  obviously 
the  controlling  hand  must  be  seriously  obstructed  in 
its  motions  by  even  a  passive  hand ;  and  since  the  con- 
trolling hand  can  have  no  proper  or  customary  rest, 
the  motion  must  be  from  the  shoulder  and  with  the 
whole  arm.  The  writing  will  therefore  be  upon  an 
enlarged  scale,  loose,  sprawling,  and  can  have  little,  if 
any,  characteristic  resemblance  to  the  natural  and 
habitual  style  of  the  controlling  writer,  and  of  course 
none  of  the  person's  whose  hand  is  passive. 

In  appearance  it  changes  abruptly  from  very  high 
or  very  wide  to  very  low  or  narrow  letters.  This  is  to 
be  explained  by  the  non-agreement  in  phase  of  the 
impulses  due  to  each  of  the  two  writers.  If  both 
are  endeavoring  at  the  same  moment  to  write  a  given 
stroke  the  length  of  that  stroke  will  be  measured  by 
the  sum  of  the  impulses  given  by  the  two  writers.  If 
they  act  in  opposition  to  one  another,  one  seeking 
to  make  a  down  stroke  while  the  other  is  trying  to 
make  an  up  stroke,  the  result  will  be  a  line  equal 
to  the  difference  between  the  stronger  and  the  weaker 
force. 

As  these  coincidences  and  oppositions  occur  at  irreg- 
ular but  not  infrequent  intervals,  like  the  interference 
and  amplification  phases  of  light  and  sound  waves, 
the  result  traced  on  the  paper  might  be  expected  in 
advance  to  be  —  and  in  fact  is  —  a  distorted  writing 

164 


GUIDED  HANDWRITING 

where  maxima  and  minima  of  effect  are  connected 
together  by  longer  or  shorter  lines  of  ordinary  writing. 

The  only  state  of  things  which  can  justify  the  guid- 
ing of  a  hand  executing  a  legal  instrument  is  the  feeble- 
ness or  illness  of  its  owner. 

When  such  assistance  is  required  it  is  usually  given 
by  passing  the  arm  around  the  body  of  the  invalid  and 
supporting  the  writing  hand  while  the  necessary  char- 
acters are  being  made. 

Both  participants  in  this  action  are  looking  at  the 
writing,  and  both  are  thinking  of  the  next  letter  which 
must  be  written,  and  of  the  motion  of  the  pen  necessary 
to  produce  it.  Unless  the  executing  hand  were  abso- 
lutely lifeless  or  entirely  devoid  of  power,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  it  not  to  influence  the  guiding  and  pre- 
sumably stronger  hand;  for  the  least  force  exerted 
cannot  fail  to  deflect  a  hand,  however  strong,  in  an  un- 
natural and  cramped  position.  Nor  can  the  hand  of 
the  guider  fail  to  add  its  contribution  to  the  joint  effort, 
however  much  the  brain  which  controls  it  may  strive 
to  render  the  hand  entirely  passive.  Both  minds  are 
busy  with  the  same  act,  and  insensibly  both  hands  will 
write  the  same  letter  with  the  results  just  described. 

Can  the  characteristics  of  each  hand  be  separated 
from  those  of  the  other  and  the  relative  amount  of 
the  two  contributions  to  the  joint  signature  be  stated  ? 

This  is  a  question  which  is  naturally  asked  during 
the  trial  of  a  case  involving'  the  consideration  of  a 
guided  hand.  From  the  comparatively  small  number 
of  experiments  made  in  this  direction  it  would  be  too 
hazardous  to  answer  it  in  the  affirmative,  but  it  may 
be  said  that  some  of  the  characteristics  of  each  hand 
can  usually  be  made  apparent  by  the  system  of  meas- 

165 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

urement,  and  the  indications  seem  to  point  to  the 
probability  of  being  able  to  increase  the  number  of 
characteristics  elicited  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  observations  made.  If  the  significance  of  every 
part  of  every  stroke  could  be  properly  interpreted,  it 
follows  that  a  complete  separation  of  characteristics 
would  be  effected,  but  this  would  require  an  indefi- 
nitely large  number  of  observations  to  be  made  and 
a  quite  unattainable  skill  in  explaining  them. 

See  specimens  of  guided  signatures  in  Appendix. 


166 


XVI 

Tales  Told  by  Handwriting 


CHAPTER  XVI 


Telling  the  Nationality,  Sex  and  Age  of  Anyone  Who  Executes 
Handwriting  —  Americans  and  Their  Style  of  Writing  —  How 
English,  German,  and  French  Write  —  Gobert  the  French 
Expert  and  How  He  Saved  Dreyfus  —  Miser  Paine  and  His 
.Millions  Saved  by  an  Expert  —  Writing  with  Invisible  Ink  — 
Professor  Braylant's  Secret  Writing  Without  Ink  —  Professor 
Gross  Discovers  a  Simple  Secret  Writing  Method  With  a  Piece 
of  Pointed  Hardwood  —  A  System  Extensively  Used  —  Study- 
ing the  Handwriting  of  Authors  —  How  to  Determine  a  Person's 
Character  and  Disposition  by  Handwriting. 

It  is  possible  for  a  trained  expert  in  handwriting  to 
tell  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  the  nationality,  sex, 
and  age  of  any  one  who  executes  writing  of  any  kind. 
A  study  of  the  handwriting  of  the  different  nations 
makes  it  comparatively  easy  to  recognize  in  any  ques- 
tioned specimen  the  nationality  of  the  writer.  The 
aggregate  characteristics  of  a  nation  are  reflected  in 
the  style  of  handwriting  adopted  as  a  national  stand- 
ard. The  style  most  in  use  in  the  United  States  is  the 
semi-angular,  forward-slant  hand,  although  the  verti- 
cal round-hand  is  now  being  largely  taught  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  and  will  affect  the  appearance  of  the  writing 
of  the  next  generation  quite  appreciably. 

Frequently  educational  and  newspaper  critics  com- 
pare unfavorably  American  writing  with  that  of  other 
nations.  The  writer  has  investigated  the  subject  by 
collecting  from  many  countries  copy-books  and  speci- 
mens of  writing  from  leading  teachers  of  writing,  stu- 

169 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

dents  in  various  grades  of  schools,  clerks  and  business 
men. 

America  is  so  far  in  advance  of  any  other  country  in 
artistic  and  business  penmanship  that  there  is  really 
no  second.  Americans  as  a  whole  write  at  a  much 
higher  rate  of  speed  and  with  a  freer  movement  than 
any  other  nations,  and,  consequently,  many  critics 
stop  when  they  have  criticized  form  alone,  not  making 
allowance  for  quantity.  Nervous,  rapid  writers  (and 
such  the  Americans  are)  produce  writing  more  or  less 
illegible,  but  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  standard  so  much 
as  the  speed  with  which  the  writing  is  done. 

The  writing  of  England  is  either  angular  (for  rapid 
business  style),  or  the  civil-service  round-hand  —  too 
slow  for  the  every -day  rush  of  business.  England's 
colonies,  influenced  by  her  copy-books  and  teachers, 
write  about  as  England  does.  Canada  is  an  excep- 
tion, as  her  proximity  to  the  United  States  causes  her 
to  mix  the  English  and  American  styles,  with  the 
American  gaining  ground. 

The  German  and  French  write  two  radically  differ- 
ent styles.  Hence  the  identity  of  the  nation  produc- 
ing the  writer  as  well  as  the  identity  of  the  writer  him- 
self usually  can  be  established.  Before  the  writer  is 
known  this  frequently  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  cause 
of  justice  as  it  narrows  down  the  search. 

A  case  such  as  the  Dreyfus  affair  has  a  tendency  to 
confuse  the  public  mind  and  leads  to  wrong  conclu- 
sions. In  initiating  the  prosecution  of  Dreyfus  the 
French  government  submitted  the  documents  to  ex- 
pert Gobert,  of  the  Bank  of  France,  who  is  considered 
the  leader  in  this  line  in  France.  Gobert  reported  that 
Dreyfus  did  not  write  the  incriminating  documents. 

170 


TALES  TOLD  BY  HANDWRITING 

The  prosecutors  then  placed  the  papers  in  the  hands  of 
Bertillon,  the  inventor  of  the  anthropometric  system 
of  measurements  (used  principally  on  criminals) 
which  bears  his  name.  It  mattered  not  that  Bertillon 
had  never  appeared  in  a  handwriting  case  before,  or 
that  his  skill  in  this  line  was  unknown.  He  was  a  man 
of  science,  of  great  renown  in  other  lines,  and  the  gov- 
ernment relied  on  these  facts  to  bolster  up  its  claim 
that  Dreyfus  wrote  the  incriminating  papers  Bertil- 
lon reported  in  favor  of  the  government's  contention, 
and  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  get  some  alleged  experts 
-  weak  as  to  will  and  ability —  and  one  or  two  honest 
but  misguided  men  to  agree  with  him.  Some  of  these 
afterward  changed  their  opinions  when  better  stand- 
ards of  writing  were  given  to  them. 

Dreyfus'  friends  sent  engraved  reproductions  of 
standards  and  disputed  documents  to  the  best-known 
experts  all  over  the  world,  and  without  exception 
these  reported  that  Dreyfus  was  not  the  writer  of  the 
disputed  papers.  On  the  side  of  the  French  gov- 
ernment were  a  few  so-called  "experts,"  headed  and 
dominated  by  a  man  with  no  experience  whatever. 
The  experts  of  skill  and  experience  in  France  and  the 
world  over  were  practically  unanimous  in  favor  of 
Dreyfus.  A  critical  examination  of  the  documents  in 
question  produced  an  absolute  conviction  that  they 
could  not  possibly  have  been  written  by  Dreyfus. 

Unless  the  individual  is  fitted  by  nature  and  inborn 
liking  for  investigations  of  this  character,  no  amount 
of  education  and  experience  will  fit  him.  But,  given 
natural,  equipment  and  inclination,  it  is  necessary 
first  of  all  that  the  expert  have  a  good  general  educa- 
tion. He  should  have  a  sufficient  command  of  lan- 

171 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

guage  to  make  others  see  what  he  sees.  He  should 
have  a  good  eye  for  form  and  color,  and  a  well-trained 
hand  to  enable  him  to  describe  graphically  as  well  as 
orally  what  his  trained  eye  has  detected.  A  few 
strokes  on  a  blackboard  or  large  sheet  of  paper  will 
often  make  a  clouded  point  appear  much  plainer  to 
court,  jury  and  lawyers  than  hours  of  oral  descrip- 
tion. The  ability  to  handle  the  crayon  and  to  simu- 
late well  the  writings  under  discussion  is  a  great  aid. 

A  very  interesting  case  was  involved  in  the  will  of 
Miser  Paine  in  New  York  in  1889.  Here  a  deliberate 
attempt  to  get  away  with  something  like  $1,500,000 
was  made,  which  was  frustrated  by  a  handwriting 
expert.  When  quite  a  young  man,  James  H.  Paine 
was  a  clerk  in  a  Boston  business  house.  He  absconded 
with  a  lot  of  money  and  went  to  New  York,  where  all 
trace  of  him  was  lost.  He  speculated  with  the  stolen 
money,  and  everything  he  touched  turned  to  gold. 
He  soon  became  a  millionaire.  Then  he  became  a 
miser.  He  went  around  the  streets  in  rags,  lodged  in 
a  garret  with  a  French  family  on  the  West  Side,  who 
took  him  out  of  pure  charity,  and  lived  on  the  leavings 
which  restaurant-keepers  gave  him.  There  was  only 
one  thing  that  he  would  spend  money  on;  that  was 
music.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  music,  and  for 
years  was  a  familiar  figure  in  the  lobby  of  the  Academy 
of  Music  during  the  opera  season.  He  would  go  there 
early  in  the  evening,  and  beg  people  to  pay  his  way  in. 
If  he  didn't  find  a  philanthropist  he  would  buy  a 
ticket  himself,  but  he  never  gave  up  hope  until  he 
knew  that  the  curtain  had  risen. 

Finally  Paine  was  run  over  by  a  cab  in  New  York. 
He  was  taken  to  a  hospital,  but  made  such  a  fuss 

172 


TALES  TOLD  BY  HANDWRITING 

about  staying  there  that  he  was  finally  removed  to  his 
garret  home.  He  died  there  in  a  few  days.  Then  a 
man  came  forward  with  a  power  of  attorney  which  he 
said  Paine  gave  him  in  1885  and  which  authorized 
him  to  take  charge  of  Paine 's  interest  in  the  estate  of 
his  brother,  Robert  Treat  Paine.  The  closing  para- 
graph empowered  him  to  attend  to  all  of  Paine 's  busi- 
ness and  to  dispose  of  his  property  without  consulting 
anybody,  in  the  event  of  anything  happening  to  him. 
Nothing  was  known  then  of  Paine's  possessions. 
Later  the  French  family  with  whom  Paine  lived  opened 
an  old  hair  trunk  they  found  in  the  garret.  In  this 
trunk  they  found  nearly  half  a  million  dollars  in  gold, 
bank  notes,  and  securities.  Chickering,  the  piano 
man,  came  forward  then  and  said  that  some  years 
before  Paine  gave  him  a  package  wrapped  up  in  an 
old  bandana  handkerchief  for  safe  keeping.  He  had 
opened  this  package  and  found  that  it  contained  $300,- 
ooo  in  bank  notes.  Other  possessions  of  Paine's  were 
found.  Relatives  came  forward  and  employing  hand- 
writing experts  proved  that  the  power  of  attorney 
presented  was  a  forgery  and  the  estate  went  to  the 
relations  of  Paine.  This  was  a  celebrated  case  in  its 
day  and  called  attention  to  the  value  of  experts  in 
this  line. 

Ovid,  in  his  "Art  of  Love,"  teaches  young  women 
to  deceive  their  guardians  by  writing  their  love  letters 
with  new  milk,  and  to  make  the  writing  appear  by 
rubbing  coal  dust  over  the  paper.  Any  thick  and  vis- 
cous fluid,  such  as  the  glutinous  and  colorless  juices  of 
plants,  aided  by  any  colored  powder,  will  answer  the 
purpose  equally  well.  A  quill  pen  should  be  used. 

The  most  common  method  is  to  pen  an  epistle  in 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

ordinary  ink,  interlined  with  the  invisible  words, 
which  doubtless  has  given  rise  to  the  expression, 
"reading  between  the  lines,"  in  order  to  discover  the 
true  meaning  of  a  communication.  Letters  written 
with  a  solution  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  tin,  or  mercury 
dissolved  in  aqua  fortis,  or  simpler  still  of  iron  or 
lead  in  vinegar,  with  water  added  until  the  liquor  does 
not  stain  white  paper,  will  remain  invisible  for  two  or 
three  months  if  kept  in  the  dark;  but  on  exposure 
for  some  hours  to  the  open  air  will  gradually  acquire 
color,  or  will  do  so  instantly  on  being  held  before  the 
fire.  Each  of  these  solutions  gives  its  own  peculiar 
color  to  the  writing  —  gold,  a  deep  violet ;  silver,  slate ; 
and  lead  and  copper,  brown. 

There  is  a  vast  number  of  other  solutions  that  be- 
come visible  on  exposure  to  heat,  or  when  having  a 
heated  iron  passed  over  them ;  the  explanation  is  that 
the  matter  is  readily  burned  to  a  sort  of  charcoal. 
Simplest  among  these  are  lemon  juice  or  milk;  but 
the  one  that  produces  the  best  result  is  made  by  dis- 
solving a  scruple  of  salammoniac  in  two  ounces  of 
water. 

Several  years  ago  Professor  Braylants  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Louvain  discovered  a  method  in  which  no 
ink  at  all  was  required  to  convey  a  secret  message. 
He  laid  several  sheets  of  note  paper  on  each  other  and 
wrote  on  the  uppermost  with  a  pencil;  then  selected 
one  of  the  under  sheets,  on  which  no  marks  of  the 
writing  were  visible.  On  exposing  this  sheet  to  the 
vapor  of  iodine  for  a  few  minutes  it  turned  yellowish 
and  the  writing  appeared  of  a  violet  brown  color.  On 
further  moistening  the  paper  it  turned  blue,  and  the 
letters  showed  in  violet  lines.  The  explanation  is  that 


TALES  TOLD  BY  HANDWRITING 

note  paper  contains  starch,  which  under  pressure  be- 
comes "hydramide,"  and  turns  blue  in  the  iodine 
fumes.  It  is  best  to  write  on  a  hard  surface,  say  a 
pane  of  glass.  Sulphuric  acid  gas  will  make  the  writing 
disappear  again,  and  it  can  be  revived  a  second  time. 

One  of  the  simplest  secret  writings,  however,  to 
which  Professor  Gross  of  Germany  calls  attention  is 
the  following: 

Take  a  sheet  of  common  writing  paper,  moisten  it 
well  with  clear  water,  and  lay  it  on  a  hard,  smooth 
surface,  such  as  glass,  tin,  stone,  etc.  After  removing 
carefully  all  air  bubbles  from  the  sheet,  place  upon 
it  another  dry  sheet  of  equal  size  and  write  upon  it 
your  communication  with  a  sharp-pointed  pencil  or  a 
simple  piece  of  pointed  hardwood.  Then  destroy  the 
dry  paper  upon  which  the  writing  has  been  done,  and 
allow  the  wet  paper  to  dry  by  exposing  it  to  the  air 
(but  not  to  the  heat  of  fire  or  the  flame  of  a  lamp). 
When  dry,  not  a  trace  of  the  writing  will  be  visible. 
But  on  moistening  the  sheet  again  with  clear  water 
and  holding  it  against  the  light,  the  writing  can  be 
read  in  a  clear  transparency.  It  disappears  again  after 
drying  in  the  air,  and  may  be  reproduced  by  moisten- 
ing a  great  number  of  times.  Should  the  sheets  be  too 
much  heated,  however,  the  writing  will  disappear, 
never  to  reappear  again.  This  system  is  used  exten- 
sively in  Germany. 

An  interesting  study  is  the  handwriting  of  authors, 
as  it  indicates  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  their  personal 
temperaments. 

Longfellow  wrote  a  bold,  open  back-hand,  which 
was  the  delight  of  printers,  says  the  Scientific  Ameri- 
can. Joaquin  Miller  wrote  such  a  bad  hand  that  he 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

often  becomes  puzzled  over  his  own  work,  and  the  print- 
er sings  the  praises  of  the  inventor  of  the  typewriter. 

Charlotte  Bronte's  writing  seemed  to  have  been 
traced  with  a  cambric  needle,  and  Thackeray's  writing, 
while  marvelously  neat  and  precise,  was  so  small  that 
the  best  of  eyes  were  needed  to  read  it.  Likewise  the 
writing  of  Captain  Marryatt  was  so  microscopic  that 
when  he  was  interrupted  in  his  labors  he  was  obliged 
to  mark  the  place  where  he  left  off  by  sticking  a  pin 
in  the  paper. 

Napoleon's  was  worse  than  illegible,  and  it  is  said 
that  his  letters  from  Germany  to  the  Empress  Jose- 
phine were  at  first  thought  to  be  rough  maps  of  the 
seat  of  war. 

Carlyle  wrote  a  patient,  crabbed  and  oddly  empha- 
sized hand.  The  penmanship  of  Bryant  was  aggres- 
sive, well  formed  and  decidedly  pleasing  to  the  eye; 
while  the  chirography  of  Scott,  Hunt,  Moore,  and 
Gray  was  smooth  and  easy  to  read  but  did  not  express 
distinct  individuality. 

Byron's  handwriting  was  nothing  more  than  a 
scrawl.  His  additions  to  proofs  frequently  exceeded 
in  volume  the  original  copy,  and  in  one  of  his  poems, 
which  contained  in  the  original  only  four  hundred 
lines,  one  thousand  were  added  in  the  proofs. 

The  writing  of  Dickens  was  minute,  and  he  had  a 
habit  of  writing  with  blue  ink  on  blue  paper.  Fre- 
quent erasures  and  interlineations  made  his  copy  a 
burden  to  his  publishers. 

Horace  Greeley  could  not  decipher  his  own  writing 
after  it  got  cold. 

Mark  Twain  writes  a  cramped,  plain  hand,  and  writes 
with  haste. 

176 


TALES  TOLD  BY  HANDWRITING 

For  an  evening  entertainment  when  a  few  friends 
happen  to  drop  in  ask  each  one  to  write  any  quo- 
tation that  pops  into  his  head  and  carefully  sign  his 
name  in  full.  Pen  and  ink  are  better  than  pencil, 
but  the  latter  will  answer  in  a  pinch.  If  the  writing 
is  dark  this  shows  a  leaning  toward  athletics  and  a 
love  for  outdoor  life  and  sports.  If  the  letters  are 
slender  and  faint  the  writer  is  reserved  and  rarely 
shows  emotion  or  becomes  confidential.  Sloping 
letters  indicate  a  very  sensitive  disposition,  whereas 
those  that  are  straight  up  and  down  evince  ability  to 
face  the  world  and  throw  off  the  "slings  and  arrows 
of  outrageous  fortune." 

Curls  and  loops  are  out  of  fashion  nowadays,  but 
any  inclination  to  ornate  penmanship  is  a  sure  indi- 
cation of  a  leaning  toward  the  romantic  and  senti- 
mental, while  the  least  desire  to  shade  a  letter  shows 
imagination  and  a  tendency  to  idealize  common  things. 
If  the  same  letter  is  formed  differently  by  the  same 
person  this  shows  love  of  change.  Long  loops  or 
endings  to  the  letters  indicate  that  the  writer  "wears 
his  heart  upon  his  sleeve,"  or  in  other  words,  is  trust- 
ing, non-secretive,  and  very  fond  of  company.  If  the 
"y"  has  a  specially  long  finish,  this  shows  affectation, 
but  if  the  same  person  is  also  careless  about  crossing 
the  "t's,"  the  combination  is  an  unhappy  one,  as  it 
points  to  fickleness  in  work  and  to  affectation.  A 
curved  cross  to  the  "t,"  or  the  incurving  of  the  first 
letters  of  a  word  shows  an  affectionate  and  good- 
natured  disposition  if  taken  separately;  but  if  the 
two  are  indulged  in  by  the  same  writer  it  is  a  sign  of 
jealousy. 

Writing  that  is  rather  small  points  to  cleverness, 


DISPUTED   HANDWRITING 

quick  intuitions,  a  liking  for  one's  own  way,  brilliant 
intellect,  and  fine  powers  of  penetration.  Round, 
jolly,  comfortable-looking  letters  betoken  a  disposi- 
tion to  correspond. 

With  these  hints  in  mind  it  will  be  surprising  to 
find  how  many  caps  may  be  found  to  fit  ourselves  and 
our  friends. 


178 


XVII 

Workings  of  the  Government  Secret 
Service 


CHAPTER  XVII 

WORKINGS  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  SECRET 
SERVICE 

Officials  of  This  Department  Talk  About  Their  Work  —  How 
Criminals  Are  Traced,  Caught  and  Punished  —  Its  Work 
Extending  to  All  Departments  —  Secret  Service  Districts  — 
Reports  Made  to  the  Treasury  Department  —  Good  Money 
and  Bad  —  How  to  Detect  the  False  —  System  of  Numbering 
United  States  Notes  Explained  —  Counterfeiting  on  the  Decrease 
—  Counterfeiting  Gold  Certificates  —  Bank  Tellers  and  Counter- 
feits —  The  Best  Secret  Service  in  the  World 

The  secret  service  bureau  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment is  not  an  old  concern.  It  has  not  been  in  opera- 
tion many  years,  compared  to  the  existence  of  other 
bureaus,  but  it  grows  in  importance  each  year.  There 
are  now  a  large  number  of  investigators,  by  some  called 
detectives,  in  the  field,  but  the  exact  number  is  not 
known  and  will  not  be  made  public. 

Counterfeiting  money  is  an  old  offense.  It  was  done 
before  the  United  States  became  a  government,  but 
does  not  seem  to  have  become  so  widespread  until  the 
United  States  began  making  its  own  paper  money 
during  the  Civil  War.  Prior  to  that  time  the  offenses 
had  been  dealt  with  by  states  and  municipalities,  with 
such  help  as  the  general  government  cared  to  give. 
The  increase  in  the  crime,  however,  caused  recognition 
by  Congress  in  1860,  when  $10,000  was  appropriated 
for  its  suppression  to  be  expended  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  This  sum  was  paid 
out  in  rewards  to  private  detectives,  municipal  officers 

181 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

and  others  instrumental  in  bringing  to  trial  and  pun- 
ishment those  engaged  in  making  bogus  money. 

With  the  turning  out  of  greenbacks  by  the  govern- 
ment an  increase  in  the  appropriation  and  a  more 
organized  fight  against  counterfeiting  were  necessary. 
In  1864  Congress  appropriated  $100,000  and  placed 
upon  the  solicitor  of  the  treasury  the  responsibility 
and  supervision  of  keeping  down  counterfeiting.  This 
really  inaugurated  a  methodical  system  of  hunting  and 
punishing  counterfeiters.  The  solicitor  of  the  treas- 
ury gathered  about  him  a  corps  of  men  experienced  in 
criminal  investigations  and  set  them  to  work.  The 
plan  worked  so  well  that  when  John  Sherman  was 
secretary  of  the  treasury  he  gave  his  approval  to  the 
organization  of  a  separate  bureau  for  suppressing  the 
output  of  spurious  currency.  Under  foreign  govern^ 
ments  the  handling  of  counterfeiters  is  in  control  of  a 
centralized  police  organization,  which  looks  after  all 
kinds  of  criminal  offenses  against  the  general  govern- 
ments. The  one  bureau  has  surveillance  over  crim- 
inals of  every  class.  The  tendency  is  in  that  direction 
in  this  government.  The  secret  service  bureau  is  now 
being  used  by  a  number  of  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  operations  of  the  secret  service  are  confined  by 
law  to  the  suppression  of  counterfeiting  and  the  inves- 
tigation of  back  pay  and  bounty  cases.  This  is  all  the 
law  permits  the  officials  of  the  service  to  work  on,  but 
every  day  they  are  at  work  on  other  matters.  That 
the  law  may  not  be  openly  violated  the  secret  service 
operators  assigned  to  do  other  work  are  practically 
taken  off  the  secret  service  rolls  and  the  department 
employing  them  is  required  to  pay  their  salaries  and 

182 


THE  GOVERNMENT  SECRET  SERVICE 

expenses.  Nearly  all  the  departments  now  recognize 
the  efficiency  of  the  service  and  call  upon  the  bureau 
at  any  time  for  a  man.  The  Department  of  Justice 
has  used  a  number  of  the  operators  in  the  last  few 
years.  In  the  course  of  time  this  will  become  so  gen- 
eral that  this  government  will  probably  build  up  a 
great  criminal  bureau,  one  that  will  supply  officers  for 
investigation  of  any  crime.  The  Postoffice  Depart- 
ment now  has  its  own  system  of  inspectors,  who  in- 
vestigate violations  of  postal  laws,  and  the  plan  of  pit- 
ting specialist  against  specialist  is  regarded  as  perfect. 
This  could  be  continued,  though,  if  all  the  criminal 
organizations  of  the  government  were  centralized. 

The  United  States  is  divided  into  thirty  secret  ser- 
vice districts,  each  in  charge  of  an  operative  who  has 
under  his  direction  as  many  assistants  as  the  criminal 
activity  of  the  section  demands.  The  force  is  concen- 
trated in  one  district  if  there  are  counterfeiting  oper- 
ations in  progress,  and  then  sent  to  another  district  as 
required.  A  written  daily  report,  covering  operations 
for  twenty-four  hours,  is  exacted  from  each  district 
operative  and  from  each  man  under  him.  These  daily 
reports  frequently  contain  many  fascinating  stories, 
many  details  of  criminal  life  and  espionage  that  would 
make  columns.  The  reports  received  by  the  bureau  in 
Washington  are  carefully  filed  away  in  the  offices  of 
the  Treasury  Department.  Accompanying  the  reports 
are  the  photographs  and  measurements  of  every  man 
arrested  for  counterfeiting.  The  Bertillon  system  of 
measurements  is  used  by  the  service,  as  well  as  a  plain 
indexed  card  system.  The  two  are  so  complete  that 
even  without  the  name  of  a  man  his  name  and  record 
can  be  obtained  if  his  measurements  are  forwarded. 

183 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

Hanging  on  the  walls  and  in  racks  in  the  two  rooms 
that  are  occupied  by  the  chief  and  his  two  assistants 
are  the  photographs  of  every  known  counterfeiter  in 
the  country.  Among  these  are  the  faces  of  William 
E.  Brockway,  the  veteran  dean  of  counterfeiters; 
Emanuel  Ninger,  the  most  expert  penman  the  service 
ever  knew,  and  Taylor  and  Bredell,  who  hold  the 
record  as  the  cleverest  counterfeiters  in  history  next 
to  Brockway  There  are  hundreds  of  others  who  have 
at  some  time  or  other  gotten  into  the  clutches  of  the 
service,  many  of  them  the  most  desperate  characters. 
Some  of  these  have  taken  human  life  with  the  same 
ease  they  would  make  a  paper  dollar  or  a  silver  coin. 

The  development  of  modern  processes  of  photo- 
lithography, photogravure,  and  etching  has  revolu- 
tionized the  note  counterfeiting  industry.  So  famous 
a  counterfeiter  as  Brockway  realized  this.  In  the 
old  days  all  counterfeiting  plates  were  hand  engraved 
and  it  took  from  eight  to  fifteen  months  to  complete 
a  set.  Now  this  part  of  the  work  may  be  done  in  a 
few  hours. 

Information  as  to  the  personnel  and  operations  of 
the  secret  service  is  carefully  withheld  from  the  public. 
The  names  of  the  heads  of  the  various  districts  and 
the  operators  are  unknown  and  are  seldom  published 
unless  in  case  of  the  arrest  of  a  counterfeiter  and  the 
the  facts  get  into  the  newspapers  The  bureau  is 
managed  by  John  E.  Wilkie,  chief.  He  has  held  the 
position  since  1898,  when  he  succeeded  Chief  Hazen. 
Mr.  Wilkie  is  a  newspaper  man  having  held  responsible 
positions  on  many  large  papers.  He  began  his  career 
as  a  reporter  and  worked  his  way  up  to  city  editor  of 
one  of  the  big  Chicago  papers.  He  has  a  great  "nose " 

184 


THE  GOVERNMENT  SECRET  SERVICE 

for  criminal  investigation,  and  his  work  is  regarded  as 
brilliant. 

All  the  United  States  notes  are  printed  in  sheets  of 
four  notes  of  one  denomination  on  each  sheet.  Each 
note  is  lettered  in  its  respective  order,  in  the  upper  and 
lower  corners  diagonally  opposite,  A,  B,  C,  and  D,  and 
this  is  the  system  for  numbering  notes :  All  numbers, 
on  being  divided  by  4  and  leaving  i  for  a  remainder, 
have  the  check  letter  A ;  2  remainder,  B ;  3  remainder, 
C;  even  numbers,  or  with  no  remainder,  D.  Any 
United  States  note  the  number  upon  which  can  be 
divided  by  4  without  showing  the  above  result  is  a 
counterfeit,  and  while  this  rule  is  not  infallible  in  all 
instances  it  will  be  found  of  service  in  the  detection  of 
counterfeits. 

Compared  with  a  dozen  or  so  years  ago,  there  is 
nothing  like  the  counterfeiting  going  on  in  this  coun- 
try. Shortly  after  the  war  the  country  was  practically 
flooded  with  it,  but  so  perfect  is  the  machinery  of  the 
secret  service  and  so  successful  have  its  officers  been 
in  recent  years  in  unearthing  the  big  plants  and  their 
operators,  and  placing  the  latter  behind  the  bars,  that 
counterfeiting  has  almost  ceased. 

The  receipts  of  subsidiary  counterfeit  coins  at  the 
subtreasury  at  New  York  have  been  in  recent  times 
inconsequential.  Some  time  ago  an  Italian  silver- 
smith, who  was  an  expert  coin  counterfeiter,  was 
captured,  and  the  destruction  of  his  plant  and  his 
subsequent  conviction  had  a  wholesome  effect  upon 
his  fellow  countrymen,  some  of  whom  have  come  over 
to  the  United  States  for  the  express  purpose  of  count- 
erfeiting its  silver  coins.  Only  five  counterfeit  issues 
of  notes  made  their  appearance  during  the  year  in 

185 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

question,  and  of  these  three  were  new  and  two  were 
reissues  of  old  counterfeits. 

This  shows  how  well  the  counterfeit  situation,  as 
it  were,  is  kept  in  check  and  under  control  by  the 
government.  By  some  it  is  supposed  that  most  of 
our  counterfeiters  come  from  abroad,  but  this  is  not 
strictly  accurate,  though  many  of  those  who  attempt 
to  imitate  our  silver  dollar  and  the  subsidiary  coin 
issues  hail  from  Italy  and  Russia. 

In  order  to  set  up  a  first-class  counterfeit  shop  for 
the  turning  out  of  good  paper  counterfeits,  there  are 
so  many  indispensable  requisites  on  the  part  of  the 
spurious  money-makers  that  they  get  discouraged  or 
caught  in  most  instances  almost  at  the  very  outset  of 
their  would-be  easy  money-making  careers.  All  of 
the  good  engravers  who  are  capable  of  turning  out 
good  plates  are  more  or  less  under  the  constant  super- 
vision of  the  secret  service  officers,  while  the  paper 
supply,  or  its  possible  supply,  is  equally  well  watched. 

Because  gold  and  silver  coins  pass  current  out  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  where  notes  do  not  yet  circulate 
freely  as  in  the  east,  California  has  more  counter- 
feiting cases  than  any  other  state  in  the  Union,  with 
Pennsylvania,  with  its  large  foreign  population  in 
the  mining  regions,  a  close  second. 

A  moderately  deceptive  $5  silver  certificate  was 
made  in  Italy,  imported  into  this  country  by  various 
gangs  of  Italians  and  passed  quite  extensively  in  the 
eastern  states,  but  the  secret  service  officers  quickly 
got  on  to  the  source  of  issue,  and  made  many  arrests 
and  secured  convictions.  So  closely  did  they  hit  the 
trail  of  a  fairly  good  counterfeit  note  issued  in  the  west 
that  they  got  the  maker  and  passer  arrested  and  con- 

186 


THE  GOVERNMENT  SECRET  SERVICE 

victed  and  the  plates  captured  so  quickly  that  it  must 
have  caused  him  acute  pain.  It  was  the  same  with  a 
$10  note  of  deceptive  workmanship  which  appeared  in 
New  York.  Only  three  of  these  notes  were  circulated. 

Of  course  there  are  plenty  of  counterfeit  notes  and 
coins  in  circulation — if  there  were  not  the  secret-service 
officers  would  have  an  easy  time  of  it  —  but  the  output 
has  largely  decreased  as  compared  with  former  years, 
and,  unless  all  signs  fail,  it  is  likely  to  go  still  lower, 
as  the  secret  service  officers  become  each  year  more 
expert  in  detecting  this  class  of  crime  and  putting  the 
criminals  away  where  they  will  serve  the  state  the 
best.  Gold  certificates  issued  below  the  denomination 
of  $20,  are  numbered  the  same  as  treasury  notes  and 
are  check-lettered  in  their  order  upon  each  sheet. 

The  only  denominations  of  the  gold  certificates 
which  have  been  counterfeited  are  the  issues  for  $20 
and  $100,  respectively,  as  the  gold  certificates  present 
a  pretty  tough  counterfeiting  proposition,  though 
most  of  the  denominations  of  the  various  issues  of  the 
silver  certificates  have  been  more  or  less  extensively 
counterfeited,  perhaps  the  issues  for  $5  and  $10,  re- 
spectively, being  the  most  favored  at  the  counter- 
feiter's hands,  by  reason  of  the  ready  circulation  of 
these  two  issues. 

The  main  deterrents  to  counterfeiting  nowadays 
are,  first,  lack  of  good  engravers  who  will  take  the  risk ; 
second,  the  difficulty  in  the  making  and  the  assembling 
of  first-class  plates,  and  third,  the  difficulty  in  the  secur- 
ing of  suitable  paper.  As  to  the  last,  the  fiber  paper 
now  in  use  with  the  two  silk  threads  running  through 
the  note  lengthwise  presents  a  hard  proposition  for  imi- 
tation, and  lastly,  and  an  important  provision,  is  the 

187 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

fact  the  public  is  now  pretty  well  educated  on  the 
question  of  counterfeits,  and  know  how  a  spurious  bill 
both  looks  and  feels.  As  for  the  bank  tellers,  they 
scent  counterfeits  by  instinct.  Things  have  changed 
for  the  counterfeiter,  too,  and  they  are  not  for  the  best 
from  his  point  of  view. 

The  secret  service  of  the  United  States  is  without  a 
question  the  best  in  the  world. 


188 


XVIII 

Character  and  Temperament  Indicated 
by  Handwriting 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

CHARACTER    AND     TEMPERAMENT    INDICATED 
BY   HANDWRITING 

A  Man's  Handwriting  a  Part  of  Himself  —  Cheap  Postage  and 
Typewriters  Playing  Havoc  with  Writing  by  Hand  —  Old  Time 
Correspondence  Vanishing  —  Two  Divisions  of  Handwriting  — 

—  Fashion  Has  Changed  Even  Writing  —  Characteristic  Writing 
of    Different    Professions  —  Handwriting    a    Sure    Index    to 
Character  and  Temperament  —  Personality  of  Handwriting  — 
Handwriting  a  Voiceless  Speaking  —  A   Neglected   Science  — 
Interest  in  Disputed  Handwriting  Rapidly  Coming  to  the  Front 

—  Set  Writing  Copies  no  Longer  the  Rule  —  Formal  Handwriting 

—  Education's  Effect  on  Writing  —  Handwriting  and  Personality 

—  The  Character  and  Temperament  of  Writers  Easily  Told  — 
Honest,  Eccentric,  and    Weak    People  —  How    to    Determine 
Character  by  Writing  —  The   Marks   of   Truth   and   Straight- 
forwardness —  How  Perseverance  and  Patience  Are  Indicated  in 
Writing  —  Economy,  Generosity  and  Liberality  Easily  Shown 
in  Writing  —  The  Character  and  Temperament  of  Any  Writer 
Easily    Shown  —  Studying    Character    from     Handwriting     a 
Fascinating  Work  —  Rules  for  Its  Study  —  Links  in  a  Chain 
That  Cannot  Be  Hidden  —  A  Person's  Writing  a  Surer  Index 
to  Character  Than  His  Face. 

A  person's  handwriting  is  really  a  part  of  himself. 
It  is  an  expression  of  his  personality  and  his  character 
and  is  as  characteristic  of  his  general  make-up  as  his 
gait  or  his  tone  of  voice. 

There  is  always  a  direct  and  apparent  connection 
between  the  style  of  handwriting  and  the  personality 
of  the  writer.  Another  familiar  evidence  of  this  is 
the  fact  that  no  two  persons  write  exactly  alike,  not- 
withstanding that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people 

191 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

learned  to  write  from  the  same  copy-books  and  were 
taught  to  form  their  letters  in  precisely  the  same  way. 
Thus,  it  will  be  seen,  if  handwriting  bore  no  relation- 
ship to  personality  and  temperament  and  was  not  in- 
fluenced by  the  character  of  the  individual,  we  would 
all  be  writing  the  beautiful  Spencerian  copper-plate 
we  were  taught  in  our  school  days.  But,  as  it  is,  not 
one  in  fifty  thousand  writes  in  this  manner  five  years 
after  leaving  school. 

Like  speech  or  gesture,  handwriting  serves  as  a 
means  for  the  expression  of  thought;  and  in  express- 
ing our  thoughts  we  give  expression  to  ourselves. 
When  once  the  art  of  writing  is  learned  we  are  no 
longer  conscious  of  the  mental  and  manual  effort 
required  to  form  the  letters.  It  becomes,  as  it  were, 
a  second  nature  to  us.  We  do  it  mechanically,  just 
as  we  form  our  words  when  talking,  without  realizing 
the  complex  processes  of  mind  and  muscle  that  it 
involves. 

Of  course,  the  style  of  handwriting  does  not  in  every 
case  remain  the  same  throughout  the  entire  life  of  a 
man  or  woman.  A  man  of  fifty  may  not  write  the 
same  hand  that  he  did  when  he  was  eighteen  or  twenty, 
and  if  he  lives  to  be  eighty  or  ninety  it  will  in  all 
probability  show  further  indications  of  change. 
This  fact  only  emphasizes  the  relationship  between 
handwriting,  character,  and  personality;  for  it  will 
always  be  found  that  where  there  is  a  change  in  the 
style  of  penmanship  there  is  a  corresponding  change 
in  the  person  himself.  Very  few  of  us  retain  the  same 
character,  disposition,  and  nature  that  we  had  in  youth. 
Experience  and  vicissitudes  do  much  to  modify  our 
natures,  and  with  such  modifications  come  altera- 

192 


CHARACTER  INDICATED  BY  HANDWRITING 

tions  in  our  handwriting.  In  some  persons  the  change 
is  very  slight,  while  in  others  it  is  noticeably  evident. 

When  a  man  attempts  to  change  his  style  of  hand- 
writing he  simply  alters  the  principal  features  of  it. 
If  his  writing  normally  slopes  to  the  right,  he  will 
probably  adopt  a  back-hand.  He  may  also  use  a 
different  kind  of  pen ;  may  change  the  size  of  the  writ- 
ing, alter  the  customary  formation  of  certain  letters, 
and  add  certain  unfamiliar  nourishes.  But  knowing 
nothing  about  the  many  minor  characteristics  of  his 
natural  writing  he  unconsciously  repeats  them,  not- 
withstanding his  best  efforts  to  veil  the  identity  of 
his  chirography.  In  this  respect  he  resembles  the 
actor,  who,  while  he  may  assume  all  the  outward  char- 
acteristics of  another  individual,  still  retains  certain 
personal  peculiarities  of  which  he  is  himself  unaware 
and  which  render  it  impossible  for  him  to  completely 
disguise  his  own  individuality. 

The  introduction  of  cheap  postage  and  the  immense 
increase  of  every-day  correspondence  has  ruined  hand- 
writing and  banished  forever  the  art  of  composition. 
The  short,  modern,  business-like  letters  of  to-day  will 
not  bear  comparison  with  the  neat,  voluminous  letters 
full  of  graphic  scenic  descriptions,  which  our  fore- 
fathers were  wont  to  compile,  and  were  worth  keeping 
and  rereading.  Now,  when  similar  correspondence 
is  undertaken,  it  is  dictated  to  a  stenographer,  copied 
on  a  typewriter,  or  printed,  for  few  people  will  take 
the  trouble  to  read  manuscript  composition  of  any 
kind.  Looking  backward,  we  find  a  marked  paucity 
of  ideas  and  carelessness  of  writing  in  correspondence, 
getting  worse  the  farther  back  we  go.  Few  letters 
are  preserved  these  days,  except  those  on  business, 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

which  is  a  pity,  for  a  letter  is  always  a  unique  pro- 
duction, being  a  correct  reflect  of  a  writer  and  his 
times. 

There  are  always  two  divisions  of  handwriting,  the 
formal  hand  employed  for  clerk's  work,  and  a  freer, 
less  mechanical,  less  careful  style,  used  for  private  cor- 
respondence. Writing  was  a  profession  only  under- 
stood by  a  few,  and  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  it  was  necessary  to  communicate  with  persons 
at  a  distance,  a  professional  scribe  was  employed  to 
write  the  letter.  But  letter-writing  was  rare  and  did 
not  become  general  till  after  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  even  then  it  was  restricted  to  the  upper 
classes  of  society. 

Fashion  changes  in  everything.  Every  generation 
had  its  own  particular  type  of  writing.  Compare,  for 
instance,  any  bundle  of  letters  taken  at  random,  out 
of  an  old  desk  or  library.  It  is  quite  easy  to  sort  them 
into  bundles  in  sequence  of  dates,  and  also  guess  ac- 
curately the  age  and  position  of  the  writers.  The 
flowing  Italian  hand,  used  by  educated  women  early 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  has  now  developed  into  a 
bold,  decisive,  almost  masculine  writing. 

It  will  be  found  that  most  professions  have  special 
characteristics  in  writing  and  these  are  all  liable  to 
change,  according  to  circumstances  and  writing  is  the 
clearest  proof  of  both  bodily  and  mental  condition, 
for  in  case  of  paralysis,  or  mental  aberration,  the 
doctor  takes  it  as  a  certain  guide. 

The  most  noticeable  movement  by  which  cultured 
people  recognize  one  another  are  the  play  of  the  feat- 
ures, the  gait,  talking  and  writing.  Of  these  evi- 
dences the  last  named  is  the  most  infallible,  for  by  a 

194 


CHARACTER  INDICATED  BY  HANDWRITING 

few  hasty  lines  we  may  recognize  again  a  person  whom 
we  neither  see  nor  hear,  and  enjoy  in  addition  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  able  to  compare  quietly  and  at  our 
leisure  the  traits  of  one  individual  thus  expressed  with 
the  characteristics  of  another.  There  are  not  many 
men  to  be  found  in  any  walk  of  life  who  do  not  en- 
deavor to  conceal  to  some  extent,  however  slight, 
their  true  views  and  emotions,  when  brought  into 
close  contact  with  their  fellow-beings.  But  the  mind 
photographs  itself  unsuspectingly  in  the  movements 
of  the  hands,  by  the  use  of  pen  and  ink  away  from  all 
alien  observation,  and  with  the  rigid  unchangeable 
witness  in  our  possession  the  character  of  the  author 
of  the  manuscript  lies  open  to  the  gaze  of  the  intelli- 
gent reader. 

In  this  way  handwriting  becomes  much  more  indi- 
vidual than  any  other  active  sign  of  personality.  It 
varies  more,  it  is  more  free,  it  represents  the  indi- 
vidual less  artificially  than  voice  or  gesture.  There 
must  exist  between  the  form  and  arrangements  of 
letters  in  words  and  lines,  on  the  one  hand,  and  certain 
individual  peculiarities  of  the  writer,  on  the  other, 
some  kind  of  connection.  It  is  strange  that  no  scien- 
tific writing  has  ever  yet  been  undertaken,  for  it  seems 
conclusive  that  handwriting  is  a  kind  of  voiceless 
speaking,  consequently  a  phenomenon,  and  therefore 
an  operation  which  lies  within  the  province  of  phys- 
iology. 

Yet  there  are  no  books  or  studies  on  the  subject  of 
disputed  handwriting  up  to  the  present  time,  short 
newspaper  and  magazine  articles  and  sketches  being 
the  only  contributions  the  public  has  been  favored 
with  up  to  the  publication  of  this  work. 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

There  is  as  yet  no  physiology  of  handwriting  formu- 
lated, and  that  the  further  question  of  the  relation  of 
handwriting  to  the  moods  of  the  writer  has  not  ever 
been  touched  upon  scientifically.  The  history  of 
science  teaches  us  that  in  case  a  fact,  which  is  theo- 
retically and  practically  important,  has  been  neglected 
for  decades  and  even  centuries  by  trained  scientists; 
but  the  subject  will  now  be  taken  up  and  a  place  made 
for  it  among  the  prominent  and  leading  studies  of  the 
day.  Interest  in  disputed  handwriting  and  writing 
of  all  kinds  is  rapidly  coming  to  the  front  in  the  United 
States,  and  is  a  study  and  research  that  the  business 
man  of  the  future  will  be  perfectly  familiar  with. 

It  is  now  no  longer  the  rule  to  teach  to  write  en- 
tirely by  the  aid  of  set  copies,  as  was  the  case  with  our 
forefathers,  who  wrote  after  one  approved  pattern, 
which  was  copied  as  nearly  as  possible  from  the  origi- 
nal set  for  them;  therefore  characteristics,  peculiari- 
ties are  longer  in  asserting  themselves  and  what  is 
now  considered  a  "formal"  handwriting  was  not  de- 
veloped till  late  in  life.  There  were,  and  still  are,  two 
divisions  or  classes  of  handwriting,  the  professional 
and  personal;  with  the  first  the  action  is  mechanical 
and  exhibits  few,  if  any,  traces  of  personality.  Yet 
in  the  oldest  manuscripts  studied  and  consulted  there 
are  certain  defined  characteristics  plainly  shown.  The 
handwritings  of  historical  and  celebrated  personages 
coincide  to  a  remarkable  degree  with  their  known 
virtues  and  vices,  as  criticized  and  detailed  by  their 
biographers. 

As  the  art  of  writing  became  general,  its  form  varied 
more,  and  more,  becoming  gradually  less  formal,  and 
each  person  wrote  as  was  easiest  to  himself. 

196 


CHARACTER  INDICATED  BY  HANDWRITING 

Education,  as  a  rule,  has  a  far  from  beneficial  effect 
upon  handwriting;  an  active  brain  creates  ideas  too 
fast  to  give  the  hand  time  to  form  the  letters  clearly, 
patiently  and  evenly,  the  matter,  not  the  material, 
being  to  the  writer  of  primary  importance. 

So  as  study  increased  among  all  classes,  writing 
degenerated  from  its  originally  clear,  regular  lettering 
into  every  style  of  penmanship. 

If  the  subject  of  handwriting,  as  a  test  of  person- 
ality is  carefully  studied,  it  will  be  found  that  imme- 
diate circumstances  greatly  influence  it;  anxiety  or 
great  excitement  of  any  kind,  illness  or  any  violent 
emotion,  will  for  the  moment  greatly  affect  the  writing. 
Writing  depends  upon  so  many  things  —  a  firm  grasp 
of  the  pen,  a  pliability  of  the  muscles,  clearness  of 
vision  and  brain  power  —  even  the  writing  materials, 
pens,  ink  and  paper,  all  make  a  difference.  It  is  not 
strange,  then,  that  with  so  many  causes  upon  which 
it  depends,  writing  should  be  an  excellent  test  of  per- 
sonality, temperament  and  bodily  health. 

Excitability,  hastiness,  temperament,  personality 
and  impatience  are  all  seen  in  the  handwriting  at  a 
glance.  A  quick  brain  suggests  words  and  sentences 
so  fast,  one  upon  another,  that  though  the  pen  races 
along  the  page,  it  cannot  write  down  the  ideas  quickly 
enough  to  satisfy  the  author. 

Temper  depends  upon  temperament.  The  crosses 
of  the  letter  "t"  are  the  index  whereby  to  judge  of  it. 
If  those  strokes  are  regular  through  a  whole  page  of 
writing,  the  writer  may  be  assumed  to  have  an  even- 
placed  temper;  if  dashed  off  at  random-quick  short 
strokes  somewhat  higher  than  the  letter  itself,  quick 
outbursts  of  anger  may  be  expected,  but  of  short 

197 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

duration,  unless  the  stroke  is  firm  and  black,  in  which 
case  great  violence  may  safely  be  predicted. 

Uncertainty  of  character  and  temperament  is  shown 
by  the  variation  of  these  strokes  to  the  letter  "t." 
Sometimes  the  cross  is  firm  and  black,  then  next  time 
it  is  light,  sometimes  it  is  omitted  altogether,  varying 
with  each  repetition  of  the  letter  like  the  opinions  and 
sentiments  of  an  undecided  person.  The  up  and  down 
strokes  of  the  letters  tell  of  strength  or  weakness  of 
will ;  graduations  of  light  and  shade,  too,  may  be  ob- 
served in  the  strokes. 

Capital  letters  tell  us  many  points  of  interest.  By 
them  originality,  talent  and  mental  capacity  are  dis- 
played, as  well  as  any  deficiency  or  want  of  education. 
There  are  two  styles  of  capital  letters  at  present  in  use. 
The  high-class  style  employed  by  persons  of  educa- 
tion is  plain  and  often  eccentric,  but  without  much 
ornamentation.  The  other  may  be  called  the  middle- 
class,  for  it  is  used  by  servants  and  tradespeople, 
having  a  fair  amount  of  education,  mingled  with  a 
good  deal  of  conceited  ignorance  and  false  pride. 

With  these  last,  the  capital  letters  are  much 
adorned  by  loops,  hooks  and  curves,  noticeable  prin- 
cipally in  the  heads  of  the  letters,  or  at  their  com- 
mencements. 

Therefore  to  become  an  expert  on  handwriting,  a 
careful  study  must  be  made  of  the  writings  of  those 
whose  life  and  character,  together  with  personal  pe- 
culiarities, are  intimately  known  and  understood,  and 
from  this  conclusions  may  be  drawn  and  rules  arrived 
at  for  future  use.  Get  some  friend  to  write  his  name 
and  from  your  knowledge  of  his  character  follow  rules 
given  in  this  work  and  you  will  find  that  a  correct  con- 

198 


CHARACTER  INDICATED  BY  HANDWRITING 

elusion  will  be  arrived  at.  The  same  correct  solution 
will  be  found  by  studying  any  signature. 

Affection  is  marked  by  open  loops  and  a  general 
slant  or  slope  of  the  writing.  A  hard  nature,  unsym- 
pathetic and  unimpressionable,  has  very  little  artistic 
feeling  or  love  of  the  fine  arts;  therefore  the  same 
things  which  indicate  a  soft,  affectionate  disposition 
will  also  indicate  poetry,  music  and  painting,  on  one 
or  other  kindred  subjects.  The  first  of  these  accom- 
panies a  loving,  impulsive  nature.  In  painting,  four 
things  are  absolutely  necessary  to  produce  an  artist, 
form,  color,  light  and  shade.  Success  in  art  implies 
a  certain  degree  of  ambition,  and  consequently  upon 
its  vanity  and  egotism;  hence  an  artist's  signature 
is  generally  peculiar  and  often  unreadable  from  its 
originality,  egotism  and  exuberance  of  creative  power. 

Imagination  and  impulse  do  not  tend  to  improve 
handwriting.  The  strokes  are  too  erratic.  Haste 
is  visible  in  every  line.  A  warm-hearted,  impulsive 
person  feels  deeply  and  passionately  at  the  moment 
of  writing  and  dashes  off  the  words  without  regard  to 
the  effect  they  will  produce  upon  the  reader. 

Truth  and  straightforwardness  give  even  lines  run- 
ning across  the  page  and  at  regular  distances  from  one 
word  to  another.  Tact  is  very  essential.  This  quality 
requires  often  slight  deceptions  to  be  allowed  or  prac- 
ticed ;  hence  an  unevenness  in  the  writing  is  observed. 
Untruthfulness  gives  greater  unevenness  still;  but  do 
not  rush  to  conclusions  on  this  point  for  an  unformed 
handwriting  shows  this  peculiarity  very  often,  being 
due,  not  to  evil  qualities,  but  to  an  unsteady  hand  em- 
ployed in  work  to  which  it  is  unused. 

Very  round,  even  writing,  in  which  the  words  are 

199 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

not  closed,  denotes  candor  and  openness  of  disposi- 
tion, with  an  aptitude  for  giving  advice,  whether 
asked  or  unasked,  and  not  always  of  a  complimentary 
kind. 

Blunt,  crabbed  writing  suggests  obstinacy  and  a 
selfish  love  of  power,  without  thought  for  the  feelings 
of  others.  True  selfishness  gives  every  curve  an  in- 
ward bend,  very  marked  in  the  commencement  of 
words  or  capital  letters. 

Perseverance  and  patience  are  closely  allied.  In 
the  former  the  letter  "  t "  is  hooked  at  the  top  and  also 
its  stroke  has  a  dark,  curved  end,  showing  that  when 
once  an  idea  has  been  entertained  no  earthly  persua- 
sion will  alter  or  eradicate  it.  Such  writers  have 
strongly  denned  prejudices  and  are  apt  to  take  very 
strong  dislikes  without  much  cause. 

Carelessness  and  patience  also  are  frequently  linked 
together,  more  often  in  later  life,  when  adversity  has 
blunted  the  faculties,  or  the  drill  routine  of  an  un- 
eventful existence  has  destroyed  all  romance.  Then 
the  writing  has  short,  up  and  down  strokes,  the  curves 
are  round,  the  bars  short  and  straight;  there  are  no 
loops  or  flourishes,  and  the  whole  writing  exhibits 
great  neatness  and  regularity. 

Economy  of  living,  curiously  enough,  is  marked  by 
a  spare  use  of  ink.  The  terminals  are  abrupt  and 
blunt,  leaving  off  short.  Where  economy  is  the  result 
of  circumstances,  not  disposition,  only  some  of  the 
words  are  thus  ended,  while  others  have  open,  free 
curves  and  the  long  letters  are  looped. 

Generosity  and  liberality  may  be  seen  likewise  in 
the  end  curve  of  every  word.  Where  these  character- 
istics are  inconstant  and  variable,  the  disposition  will 

200 


CHARACTER  INDICATED  BY  HANDWRITING 

be  found  to  be  uncertain  —  liberal  in  some  matters, 
while  needlessly  economical  and  stingy  in  others. 

When  a  bar  is  placed  below  the  signature,  it  means 
tenacity  of  purpose,  compared  with  extreme  caution; 
also  a  dread  of  criticism  and  adverse  opinions.  No 
dots  to  the  letter  "i"  means  negligence  and  want  of 
attention  to  details,  with  but  a  small  faculty  of  ob- 
servation. When  the  dots  are  placed  at  random, 
neither  above  nor  in  proximity  to  the  letter  to  which 
they  belong,  impressionability,  want  of  reflection  and 
impulsiveness  may  be  anticipated. 

Ambition  and  gratified  happiness  give  to  the  whole 
writing  an  upward  tendency,  while  the  rest  of  the 
writing  is  impulsive  without  much  firmness. 

Sorrow  gives  every  line  of  the  writing  a  downward 
inclination.  Temporary  affliction  will  at  once  show 
in  the  writing.  A  preoccupied  mind,  full  of  trouble, 
cares  little  whether  the  letter  then  written  is  legible 
or  not ;  hence  the  writing  is  erratic,  uncertain,  and  the 
confusion  of  mind  is  clearly  exhibited  in  every  line. 
Irritable  and  touchy  persons  slope  the  flourishes  only, 
such  as  the  cross  of  the  letter  "  t"  and  the  upper  parts 
of  the  capital  letters.  When  the  capital  letters  stand 
alone  in  front  of  the  words  and  the  final  letters  also  are 
isolated,  it  betokens  great  creative  power  and  ideality, 
such  as  would  come  from  an  author  and  clever  writer. 

The  most  personal  part  of  a  letter  or  document  is, 
of  course,  the  signature,  but  alone  without  any  other 
writing  it  is  not  always  a  safe  guide  to  character.  In 
many  instances  the  line  placed  below  or  after  a  signa- 
ture tell  a  great  deal  more  than  the  actual  name.  A 
curved  bending  line  below  a  signature,  ending  in  a 
hook,  indicates  coquetry,  love  of  effect,  and  ideality. 

201 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

An  exaggerated,  common-like  form  of  line  means  ca- 
price, tempered  by  gravity  of  thought  and  versatil- 
ity of  ideas.  An  unyielding  will,  fiery,  and  at  the  same 
time  determined,  draws  a  firm  hooked  line  after  the 
signature.  A  wavy  line  shows  great  variety  in  mental 
power,  with  originality.  Resolution  is  shown  in  a 
plain  line,  and  extreme  caution,  with  full  power  to 
calculate  effect  and  reason  a  subject  from  every  point 
of  view,  is  shown  by  two  straight  dashes  with  dots, 
thus  — : — 

The  personality-  of  a  writer  can  never  be  wholly 
separated  from  his  works.  And  in  any  question  of 
date  or  authenticity  of  a  document  being  called  in 
dispute,  the  value  of  graphology  and  its  theories  will 
be  found  of  the  utmost  importance,  for  the  various 
changes  in  the  style  of  handwriting,  or  in  the  spelling 
of  words,  although,  perhaps,  so  minute  and  gradual 
as  seldom  to  be  remarked,  are,  nevertheless,  links  in 
a  chain  which  it  would  be  extremely  hard  to  forge 
successfully  so  as  to  deceive  those  acquainted  with  the 
matter  as  well  as  versed  in  its  peculiarities. 

See  specimens  of  handwriting  in  Appendix  with  descriptions 
thereof. 


202 


XIX 

Handwriting  Experts  as  Witnesses 


CHAPTER   XIX 
HANDWRITING  EXPERTS  AS  WITNESSES 

Who  May  Testify  As  An  Expert  —  Bank  Officials  and  Bank  Em- 
ployees Always  Desired  —  Definition  of  Expert  and  Opinion 
Evidence  —  Both  Witness  and  Advocate  —  Witness  in  Cross 
Examination  —  Men  Who  Have  Made  the  Science  of  Disputed 
Handwriting  a  Study  —  Objections  to  Appear  in  Court  —  Ex- 
perts Contradicting  Each  Other — The  Truth  or  Falsity  of  Hand- 
writing —  Sometimes  a  Mass  of  Doubtful  Speculations  —  Paid 
Experts  and  Veracity  —  Present  Method  of  Dealing  with  Dis- 
puted Handwriting  Experts  —  How  the  Bench  and  Bar  Regard 
the  System  —  Remedies  Proposed  —  Should  an  Expert  Be  an 
Adviser  of  the  Court  ?  —  Free  from  Cross-Examination  — 
Opinions  of  Eminent  Judges  on  Expert  Testimony  —  Experts 
Who  Testify  without  Experience  —  What  a  Bank  Cashier  or 
Teller  Bases  His  Opinions  on  —  Actions  and  Deductions  of  the 
Trained  Handwriting  Expert — Admitting  Evidence  of  Handwrit- 
ing Experts  —  Occupation  and  Theories  That  Make  an  Expert 
—  Difference  Between  an  Expert  and  a  Witness  —  Experts  and 
Test  Writing  —  What  Constitutes  an  Expert  in  Handwriting  — 
Present  Practice  Regarding  Experts  —  Assuming  to  Be  a  Com- 
petent Expert  —  Testing  a  Witness  with  Prepared  Forged  Signa- 
tures —  Care  in  Giving  Answers  —  A  Writing  Teacher  as  an 
Expert  —  Familiarity  with  Signatures  —  What  a  Dash,  Blot, 
or  Distortion  of  a  Letter  Shows  —  What  a  Handwriting  Expert 
Should  Confine  Himself  to  —  Parts  of  Writing  Which  Demand 
the  Closest  Attention  —  American  and  English  Laws  on  Experts 
in  Handwriting  —  Examination  of  Disputed  Handwriting. 

While  the  qualification  necessary  for  the  permission 
of  a  witness  to  testify  in  court  as  an  expert  is  largely 
discretionary  with  the  judge,  such  discretion  is  usually 
exercised  with  so  great  liberality  that  it  is  not  often 
that  a  witness  offered  as  an  expert  is  refused  by  the 
court  on  the  ground  of  deficient  qualification.  It  is 

205 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

usually  held  that  any  one  possessed  of  anything  more 
than  ordinary  opportunity  for  studying  or  observing 
handwriting  may  give  expert  testimony,  which  the  jury 
may  receive  for  what  it  is  deemed  to  be  worth.  Bank 
officials  and  employees  are  declared  by  most  courts  to 
be  competent  witnesses.  If  on  any  previous  occasion 
one  has  given  testimony,  that  fact  is  usually  accepted 
as  a  sufficient  qualification,  or  if  he  has  ever  seen  the 
person  write  whose  writing  is  in  question,  he  is  deemed 
competent.  With  such  limited  qualification  it  is  no 
matter  of  surprise  that  expert  testimony  is  sometime 
made  to  appear  at  very  great  disadvantage.  Incom- 
petent and  mercenary  witnesses  will  seek  employment, 
and  since  there  are  always  two  sides  to  a  case,  and  on 
each  side  lawyers  who  spare  no  efforts  for  victory,  there 
is  a  chance  for  every  kind  of  witness,  as  there  is  for 
every  kind  of  attorney. 

Expert  evidence  is  that  given  by  one  especially 
skilled  in  the  subject  to  which  it  is  applicable,  con- 
cerning information  beyond  the  range  of  ordinary  ob- 
servation and  intelligence. 

Opinion  evidence  is  the  conclusions  of  witnesses  con- 
cerning certain  propositions,  drawn  from  ascertained 
or  supposed  facts,  by  those  who  have  had  better  oppor- 
tunities than  the  ordinary  individual  or  witness  to 
judge  of  the  truth  or  falsity  of  such  propositions,  or 
who  are  familiar  with  the  subject  under  inquiry,  and 
give  their  conclusions  from  the  facts  within  their  own 
knowledge  concerning  certain  questions  involved. 

Let  us  look  at  the  question  as  it  presents  itself  to  the 
layman,  to  men  of  science  and  experience,  to  microsco- 
pists,  to  bank  officials  and  others  having  much  to  do 
with  writing.  An  expert  in  handwriting  occupies  a 

206 


HANDWRITING  EXPERTS  AS  WITNESSES 

totally  anomalous  position  when  called  before  a  court 
as  a  witness.  Technically  he  is  both  a  witness  and  an 
advocate,  sharing  the  responsibilities  of  both  but 
without  the  privileges  of  the  latter.  He  has  to  instruct 
counsel  and  to  prompt  him  during  its  course.  But  in 
cross  examination  he  is  more  open  to  insult  because 
the  court  does  not  see  clearly  how  he  arrives  at  his 
conclusions,  and  suspects  whatever  it  does  not  under- 
stand. Nearly  every  person  who  has  had  to  appear  in 
court  as  an  expert  has  been  subjected  to  more  or  less 
humiliation  by  the  judge. 

It  may  be,  perhaps,  cynically  hinted  that  men  who 
have  made  the  science  of  disputed  handwriting  a  study 
should  be  willing  to  bear  all  kinds  of  arrogance  for  the 
public  good.  In  the  first  place,  many  thoroughly  com- 
petent experts  in  any  department  of  science  distinctly 
and  peremptorily  refuse  to  be  mixd  up  in  any  affair 
which  may  expose  them  to  cross  examination.  Many 
experts  will  investigate  a  matter,  give  a  report  of  their 
conclusions,  but  absolutely  refuse  to  appear  in  court. 

Another  not  very  edifying  spectacle  is  that  of  paid 
handwriting  experts  standing  in  court  and  contra- 
dicting each  other,  or  pretending  to  contradict  in  the 
interests  of  their  respective  clients,  is  not  exactly 
right.  These  men  would  change  places  and  reverse 
positions  and  arguments  if  necessary.  Men  of  the 
world  are  tempted  to  say  that  —  "  Science  can  lay 
but  little  claim  to  certainty  in  demonstrating  the  truth 
or  falsity  of  handwriting  and  the  whole  procedure  is 
more  a  mass  of  doubtful  speculations  than  a  body  of 
demonstrable  truths."  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  a  professional  expert  must  be  paid  for  his  services, 
and  always  tell  the  truth  as  it  appears  to  him. 

207 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

It  is  clearly  seen  that  our  present  method  of  dealing 
with  experts  regarding  disputed  handwriting  is  found 
to  be  on  all  sides  not  just  exactly  satisfactory.  Often- 
times the  public  is  skeptical  and  many  honest  and 
thorough  experts  are  scandalized.  The  bench  and  bar 
share  this  feeling  but  unfortunately  are  disposed  to 
blame  the  individual  rather  than  the  system. 

There  is  no  question  but  what  this  unanimity  of 
dissatisfaction  will  vanish  as  soon  as  a  remedy  is  se- 
riously proposed.  To  that,  however,  we  must  come 
unless  we  are  willing  to  dispense  with  expert  evidence 
altogether. 

It  is  contended  by  many  that  an  expert  should  be 
the  adviser  of  the  court,  not  acting  in  the  interest  of 
either  party  in  a  lawsuit.  Above  all  things  an  expert 
ought  to  be  exempt  from  cross-examination.  His 
evidence,  or  rather  his  conclusions,  should  be  given  in 
writing  and  accepted  just  as  the  decisions  of  the  bench 
on  points  of  law. 

Opinions  of  eminent  judges  have  differed  widely 
respecting  the  reliance  to  be  placed  upon  testimony 
founded  upon  expert  comparisons  of  handwriting, 
but  it  should  be  remembered  that  those  opinions  have 
been  no  more  varied  than  has  been  the  character  and 
qualifications  of  the  experts  by  whose  testimony  they 
have  been  called  forth. 

It  is  too  true  that  very  frequently  persons  have  been 
allowed  to  give  testimony  as  experts  who  were  utterly 
without  experience  in  any  calling  that  tends  to  bestow 
the  proper  qualifications  for  giving  expert  testimony. 

The  constant  professional  observation  of  handwriting 
in  any  line  of  financial  or  commercial  business  tends  to 
confer  expert  skill.  It  should  be  said  here,  however, 

208 


HANDWRITING  EXPERTS  AS  WITNESSES 

that  the  average  bank  cashier  or  teller  bases  his  opin- 
ions and  his  identifications  generally  upon  the  pictorial 
effect  without  recourse  to  those  minuter  and  more  deli- 
cate points  upon  which  the  skilled  expert  rightly  places 
the  greatest  reliance.  Such  testimony  can  not  be 
compared  for  accuracy  or  value  with  that  of  the  scien- 
tific investigator  of  handwriting.  It  follows,  then, 
that  one  who  is  endowed  with  more  than  ordinary 
acuteness  of  observation,  and  has  had  an  experience 
so  varied  and  extensive  as  to  cover  most  of  these  lines, 
is  likely  to  be  best  fitted  for  critical  and  reliable  expert 
work. 

In  a  word,  the  trained  expert  eye,  even  on  so  slight 
a  thing  as  a  simple  straight  line,  will  detect  certain 
peculiarities  of  motion,  of  force,  of  pressure,  of  tool- 
mark,  etc.,  that  in  normal  circumstances  the  result 
will  stand  for  its  author  just  as  his  photograph  stands 
for  him.  Now,  this  being  undoubtedly  true  within 
certain  limitations,  how  more  than  incontestable  must 
be  the  proposition  to  any  rational  man  that  if,  instead 
of  a  simple  undeviating  pen-stroke,  lines  that  run  to 
curves  and  angles  and  slants,  and  shades  and  loops 
and  ticks,  and  enter  into  all  sorts  of  combinations,  such 
as  any  specimen  of  handwriting  must,  however  simple, 
bear  inherent  evidences  of  authorship  that  yield  their 
secrets  to  the  expert  examiner  as  the  hieroglyphics  on 
an  Egyptian  monument  do  to  a  properly  educated 
antiquarian. 

The  propriety  of  admitting  the  evidence  of  hand- 
writing experts  in  investigating  questions  of  forgery 
is  now  recognized  by  statute  in  most  states.  Common 
sense  dictates  that  in  all  investigations  requiring 
special  skill,  or  when  the  common  intelligence  supposed 

209 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

to  be  possessed  by  the  jury  is  not  fully  adequate  to  the 
occasion,  we  should  accept  the  assistance  of  persons 
whose  studies  or  occupations  have  given  them  a  large 
and  special  experience  on  the  subject.  Thus  such 
men  of  experience  or  experts  are  admitted  to  testify 
that  work  of  a  given  description  is  or  is  not  executed 
with  ordinary  skill ;  what  is  the  ordinary  price  of  a 
described  article;  whether  described  medical  treat- 
ment or  other  practice  was  conducted  with  ordinary 
skill  in  a  specific  case ;  which  of  two  colliding  vessels, 
their  respective  movements  being  given,  was  in  fault ; 
whether  one  invention  was  an  infringement  of  another, 
looking  at  the  models  of  both ;  and  other  cases  already 
mentioned. 

This  is  as  near  to  an  exact  definition  of  who  are  ad- 
missible as  experts  as  it  is  possible  for  us  to  come.  In 
all  these  cases  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  expert  is 
to  speak  from  no  knowledge  of  the  particular  facts 
which  he  may  happen  to  possess,  but  is  to  pronounce  the 
judgment  of  skill  upon  the  particular  facts  proved  by 
other  witnesses.  Of  course  the  court  must  be  first 
satisfied  that  the  witness  offered  is  a  person  of  such 
special  skill  and  experience,  for  if  he  be  not,  he  can 
give  no  proper  assistance  to  the  jury ;  and  of  course, 
also,  very  much  must  at  least  be  left  to  the  discretion 
of  the  court,  relative  to  the  need  of  such  assistance  in 
the  case ;  for  very  often  the  matter  investigated  may 
be  so  bunglingly  done  that  the  most  common  degree 
of  observation  may  be  sufficient  to  judge  it. 

Where  a  witness  is  called  to  testify  to  handwriting, 
from  knowledge  of  his  own,  however  derived,  as  to  the 
hand  of  the  party,  he  is  not  an  expert,  but  simply  a 
witness  to  a  fact  in  the  only  manner  in  which  that  fact 

2IO 


HANDWRITING  EXPERTS  AS  WITNESSES 

is  capable  of  proof.  Nor  is  he  an  expert  who  is  called 
to  compare  a  test  writing,  whose  genuineness  is  es- 
tablished by  others,  with  the  writing  under  investiga- 
tion, if  he  have  knowledge  of  the  handwriting  of  the 
party,  because  his  judgment  of  the  comparison  will  be 
influenced  more  or  less  by  his  knowledge,  and  will  not 
be  what  the  testimony  of  an  expert  should  be,  a  pure 
conclusion  of  skill. 

But  when  a  witness,  skilled  in  general  chirography, 
but  possessing  no  knowledge  of  the  handwriting  under 
investigation,  is  called  to  compare  that  writing  with 
other  genuine  writings  that  have  been  brought  into 
juxtaposition  with  it,  he  is  strictly  an  expert.  His 
conclusions  then  rest  in  no  degree  on  particular  knowl- 
edge of  his  own,  but  are  the  deductions  of  a  trained 
and  experienced  judgment,  from  premises  furnished 
by  the  testimony  of  other  witnesses. 

One  of  the  palpable  anomalies  of  the  present  prac- 
tice regarding  experts  on  handwriting  is  that  a  person 
who  has  seen  another  write,  no  matter  how  ignorant 
the  observer  may  be,  is  competent  to  testify  as  to 
whether  or  not  certain  writing  is  by  the  hand  of  the 
person  he  has  once  seen  engaged  in  the  art  of  writing, 
while  an  expert  handwriting  witness  may  only  testify 
that  the  hand  appears  to  be  simulated  but  may  not 
point  out  the  differences  between  specimens  of  gen- 
uine writing  and  the  instrument  in  controversy. 

It  is  safe  to  presume  that  the  apparently  unreason- 
able position  of  the  law  was  assumed  with  a  good 
object  in  view,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  object  was 
the  protection  of  the  court  from  the  swarm  of  so-called 
experts  which  might  be  hatched  by  a  laxity  in  the 
wording  of  the  law.  Few  things  would  be  easier  for 

211 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

a  dishonest  person  than  to  swear  he  was  a  competent 
expert,  and  then  to  swear  that  a  document  was,  in 
his  opinion,  forged  or  genuine,  according  to  the  re- 
quirements of  his  hirer.  The  framers  of  the  practice 
in  reference  to  expert  testimony  on  documents  seem 
to  have  _had  in  mind  that  the  only  possible  kind  of 
testimony  as  to  documents  was  that  based  upon 
impressions;  and  that  the  only  method  of  coming  to 
a  conclusion  was  by  giving  words  to  the  first  mental 
effect  produced  on  a  witness  after  he  has  looked  at  a 
writing. 

For  this  reason  the  practice  has  grown  up  in  many 
trials  of  preparing  carefully  forged  signatures  and 
producing  them  before  the  witness  as  a  test  of  how  far 
he  is  able  to  distinguish  genuine  from  forged  signatures. 

However  expert  a  witness  may  be,  however  suc- 
cessful in  discriminations  of  this  kind,  self-respect 
and  a  becoming  modesty  should  induce  him  to  refuse  to 
answer  them  without  distinctly  stating  that  his  answer, 
which  gives  his  best  judgment  at  the  time,  must  be 
subject  to  reversal  if  by  longer  and  more  thorough 
investigation  it  appear  that  the  opposite  view  were 
the  true  one. 

When  there  is  presented  before  a  court  of  law  a 
document,  of  which  it  is  important  to  know  whether 
a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  body,  or  the  signature,  or 
all,  is  actually  in  the  handwriting  of  some  person 
whose  writing  or  signature  in  other  exhibits  is  admitted 
to  be  genuine,  the  counsel  on  each  side  usually  seeks 
the  aid  of  one  or  more  handwriting  experts. 

Usually  a  teacher  of  writing  is  called,  but  more 
often  the  cashier  or  paying  teller  of  a  bank  is  preferred. 
There  seems  to  be  a  good  reason  for  choosing  a  bank 

212 


HANDWRITING  EXPERTS  AS  WITNESSES 

cashier  or  a  paying  teller,  for  the  man  upon  whose 
immediate  judgment  as  to  genuineness  of  signatures, 
reinforced  by  a  large  and  varied  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  quick  observation  of  any  suspicious  cir- 
cumstances depends  the  safety  of  a  bank,  has  cer- 
tainly gained  much  experience  and  is  not  apt  to  be 
easily  deceived  in  the  kind  of  cases  coming  daily  before 
him.  How  much  the  average  cashier  and  paying- 
teller  depends  upon  the  trifling  circumstances  attend- 
ing the  presentation  of  a  check,  the  appearance  of 
the  person  presenting  it,  the  probability  of  the  drawer 
inserting  such  a  sum,  etc.,  becomes  apparent  when 
one  has  heard  a  number  of  these  useful  officers  testify 
in  cases  where  they  are  deprived  of  all  these  surround- 
ings, and  required  to  decide  whether  a  certain  writing 
is  by  the  same  hand  which  produced  another  writing, 
both  being  unfamiliar  to  them. 

In  this  case  they  are  obliged  to  create  a  familiar- 
ity with  the  signatures  of  a  man  whose  character  and 
peculiarities  they  have  never  known. 

They  miss  the  aid  of  some  feature,  such  as  a  dash, 
a  blot,  or  the  distortion  of  a  letter,  which  would  recall 
to  them  the  character  of  the  writer.  Most  of  the 
best  experts  of  this  class  confess  that  they  cannot 
tell  on  what  their  judgment  is  based.  They  simply 
think  that  the  writing  is  not  by  the  same  hand  as 
that  admitted  to  be  genuine.  "No,"  they  will  tell 
you,  "it  is  not  merely  superficial  resemblance.  I 
don't  know  what  it  is,  but  I  feel  sure,"  etc.  These 
witnesses  are  more  frequently  right  than  the  more 
pretentious  professional  expert.  The  former  trust 
to  the  instantaneous  impressions  which  they  receive 
when  papers  are  handed  to  them ;  the  latter  too  often 

213 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

give  their  attention  to  the  merely  superficial  features 
of  chirography  without  getting  beyond  the  more  ob- 
vious resemblances  and  differences  which  are  fre- 
quently the  least  important. 

While  the  expert  in  handwriting  should  confine 
himself  to  the  concrete  examinations  of  the  paper, 
ink,  seals,  etc.,  and  leave  to  the  counsel  the  task  of 
reasoning  on  the  purport  of  the  words  added,  and  all 
other  matters  not  allied  to  the  materials  left  as  the 
result  of  the  forgery,  yet  it  would  be  unreasonable 
to  neglect  altogether  these  means  of  corroborating  a 
prevoiusly  formed  suspicion,  or  directing  a  course  of 
inquiry. 

That  expert  would  be  more  or  less  than  human  who 
could  shut  his  eyes  to  the  importance  of  the  fact  that 
certain  words  containing  evidence  in  the  manner  of 
their  formation  or  their  position  that  raised  doubts 
as  to  their  genuineness  by  their  import  gave  to  the 
person  who  might  have  written  them  benefits  which 
he  would  not  have  derived  in  their  absence. 

The  parts  of  a  writing  which  demand  the  closest  at- 
tention are  those  which  have  been  made  unconsciously 
and  which  are  not  easily  noted  by  a  superficial  view. 
The  height,  the  spread  of  the  letters,  the  peculiarities 
of  the  endings,  the  flourishes,  and  the  general  shape 
are  things  which  the  forger  observes  and  imitates,  often 
with  success;  but  the  curvature  of  a  letter  in  its  dif- 
ferent parts  is  not  easily  appreciated  by  the  naked 
eye. 

There  are  but  few  laws  in  the  United  States  regard- 
ing the  functions  of  handwriting  experts.  Courts 
in  various  states  have  followed  decisions  made  by 
higher  courts  where  matters  affecting  expert  testi- 

214 


HANDWRITING  EXPERTS  AS  WITNESSES 

mony  have  been  carried  to  the  court  of  last  resort.  A 
code  of  uniform  laws  on  this  question  is  being  agi- 
tated and  will  soon  be  called  to  the  attention  of  all 
state  legislatures.  England  has  adopted  a  simple 
and  concise  law  on  admissibility  of  testimony  of  hand- 
writing experts. 

In  the  absence  of  such  laws  a  few  extracts  from 
Stephens'  Law  of  Evidence,  an  English  work,  will  be 
found  interesting  and  instructive: 

Article  XLIX:  "When  there  is  a  question  as  to 
any  point  of  science  or  art,  the  opinions  upon  that 
point  of  persons  specially  skilled  in  any  such  matter 
are  deemed  to  be  relevant  facts. 

"Such  persons  are  hereinafter  called  experts. 

"The  words  'science  or  art'  include  all  subjects  on 
which  a  course  of  special  study  or  experience  is  neces- 
sary to  the  formation  of  an  opinion,  and  amongst 
others  the  examination  of  disputed  handwriting. 

"Illustration:  The  question  is,  whether  a  certain 
document  was  written  by  A.  Another  document  is 
produced  which  is  proved  or  admitted  to  have  been 
written  by  A. 

"The  opinions  of  experts  on  the  question  whether 
the  two  documents  were  written  by  the  same  person, 
or  by  different  persons,  are  deemed  to  be  relevant." 

Article  LI:  "When  there  is  a  question  as  to  the 
person  by  whom  any  document  was  written  or  signed, 
the  opinion  of  any  person  acquainted  with  the  hand- 
writing of  the  supposed  writer  that  it  was  or  was  not 
written  or  signed  by  him,  is  deemed  to  be  a  relevant 
fact. 

"A  person  is  deemed  to  be  acquainted  with  the 
handwriting  of  another  person  when  he  has  at  any 

215 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

time  seen  that  person  write,  or  when  he  has  received 
documents  purporting  to  be  written  by  that  person 
in  answer  to  documents  written  by  himself  or  under 
his  authority,  and  addressed  to  that  person,  or  when 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  business,  documents  pur- 
porting to  be  written  by  that  person  have  been 
habitually  submitted  to  him. 

"Illustration:  The  question  is,  whether  a  given 
letter  is  in  the  handwriting  of  A,  a  merchant  in  Cal- 
cutta. 

"  B  is  a  merchant  in  London,  who  has  written  letters 
addressed  to  A,  and  received  in  answer  letters  pur- 
porting to  be  written  by  him.  C  is  B's  clerk,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  examine  and  file  B's  correspond- 
ence. D  is  B's  broker,  to  whom  B  habitually  sub- 
mitted the  letters  purporting  to  be  writtten  by  A  for 
the  purpose  of  advising  with  him  thereon. 

"The  opinions  of  B,  C,  and  D  on  the  question 
whether  the  letter  is  in  the  handwriting  of  A  are  rele- 
vant, though  neither  B,  C,  or  D  ever  saw  A  write. 

"The  opinion  of  E,  who  saw  A  write  once  twenty 
years  ago,  is  also  relevant." 

Article  LI  I:  "Comparisons  of  a  disputed  hand- 
writing with  any  writing  proved  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  judge  to  be  genuine  is  permitted  to  be  made  by 
witnesses,  and  such  writings,  and  the  evidence  of 
witnesses  respecting  the  same,  may  be  submitted  to 
the  court  and  jury  as  evidence  of  the  genuineness  or 
otherwise  of  the  writing  in  dispute.  This  paragraph 
applies  to  all  courts  of  judicature,  criminal  or  civil, 
and  to  all  persons  having  by  law,  or  by  consent  of 
parties,  authority  to  hear,  receive,  and  examine  evi- 
dence." 

216 


XX 

Tampered,  Erased,  and  Manipulated 
Paper 


CHAPTER  XX 


Sure  Rules  for  the  Detection  of  Forged  and  Fraudulent  Writing  of 
Any  Kind  —  A  European  Professor  Gives  Rules  for  Detecting 
Fraud  —  How  to  Tell  Alterations  Made  on  Checks,  Drafts,  and 
Business  Paper  —  An  Infallible  System  Discovered  —  Results 
Always  Satisfactory  —  Can  Be  Used  by  Anyone  —  Vapor  of 
Iodine  a  Valuable  Agent  —  Paper  That  Has  Been  Wet  or  Moist- 
ened —  Colors  That  Tampered  Paper  Assumes  —  Tracing  Writ- 
ten Characters  with  Water  —  Making  Writing  Legible  —  How 
to  Tell  Paper  That  Has  Been  Erased  or  Rubbed  —  What  a 
Light  Will  Disclose  —  Erasing  with  Bread  Crumbs  —  Hard  to 
Detect  —  How  to  Discover  Traces  of  Manipulation  —  Erased 
Surface  Made  Legible  —  Treating  Partially  Erased  Paper  — 
Detecting  Nature  of  Substance  Used  for  Erasing  —  Use  of 
Bread  Crumbs  Colors  Paper  —  Tracing  Writing  with  a  Glass 
Rod  —  Tracing  Writing  Under  Paper  —  Writing  With  Glass 
Tubes  Instead  of  Pens  —  What  Physical  Examination  Re- 
veals —  Erasing  Substance  of  Paper  —  Reproducing  Pencil 
Writing  in  a  Letter  Press  —  Kind  of  Paper  to  Use  in  Making 
Experiments  —  Detecting  Fraud  in  Old  Papers  —  The  Rubbing 
and  Writing  Method. 

Prof.  G.  Brynlants  of  the  Belgian  Academy  of 
Sciences,  who  has  made  the  detecting  of  forgery  and 
disputed  handwriting  a  study  for  twenty  years,  re- 
cently made  public  an  account  of  the  researches  he 
had  made  and  deductions  arrived  at  with  a  view 
of  making  known  how  frauds  and  alterations  are  made 
on  checks,  drafts,  and  business  paper  generally  and 
how  same  can  easily  be  detected.  The  system  he 
recommends  is  now  in  use  in  nearly  every  bank  in 
Europe  and  the  result  of  his  work  and  his  recommen- 
dations should  be  carefully  read  and  the  system  ap- 

219 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

plied  by  the  banks  and  business  houses  of  the  United 
States,  when  occasion  requires. 

The  following  article  has  been  specially  prepared 
for  this  work;  and  if  its  recommendations  are  care- 
fully carried  out  it  will  prove  a  sure  rule  for  the  de- 
tection of  forged  and  fraudulent  handwriting: 

"Although  my  experiments  were  not  always  car- 
ried on  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
their  results  were  eminently  satisfactory  and  will 
prove  a  boon  to  the  banking  and  business  world.  A 
piece  of  paper  was  handed  to  me  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  if  part  of  it  had  been  wet  and  if  another 
part  of  it  had  been  manipulated  for  the  purpose  of 
erasing  marks  upon  it;  in  other  words,  whether  this 
part  had  been  rubbed.  The  sample  I  had  to  work 
upon  had  already  gone  through  several  experiments. 
I  had  remarked  that  the  tint  of  the  paper  exposed  to 
the  vapor  of  iodine  differs  from  that  which  this  same 
paper  assumes  when  it  has  been  wet  first  and  dried 
afterwards.  In  addition  to  this  I  realized  that  when 
sized  and  calendered  paper,  first  partially  wet  and  then 
dried,  is  subjected  to  the  action  of  iodine  vapor,  the 
parts  which  have  been  wet  take  on  a  violet  tint, 
while  those  which  had  not  been  moistened  became 
either  discolored  or  brown.  The  intensity  of  the 
coloration  naturally  varied  according  to  the  length 
of  time  for  which  the  paper  was  exposed  to  the  iodine. 

"There  is  a  very  striking  difference  also  when  the 
water  is  sprinkled  on  the  paper  and  the  drops  are  left 
to  dry  off  by  themselves  in  order  not  to  alter  the  sur- 
face of  the  paper. 

"Thorough  wetting  of  the  paper  will  cause  the 
sprinkled  spots  to  turn  a  heavy  violet-blue  color  when 

220 


ERASED  AND  MANIPULATED  PAPER 

exposed  to  vapor  while  the  parts  which  are  untouched 
by  the  water  will  become  blue. 

"If,  after  sprinkling  upon  a  piece  of  paper  and 
evaporating  the  drops  thereon,  this  piece  of  paper  is 
thoroughly  wet,  then  dried  and  subjected  to  the  action 
of  iodine,  the  traces  of  the  first  drops  will  remain  dis- 
tinguishable whether  the  paper  is  dry  or  not.  In  the 
latter  case  the  trace  of  the  first  sprinkling  will  hardly  be 
distinguishable  so  long  as  the  moisture  is  not  entirely 
got  rid  of;  but  as  soon  as  complete  dryness  is  effected 
their  outlines,  although  very  faint,  will  show  plainly 
on  the  darker  ground  surrounding  the  spot  covered  by 
the  first  drop. 

"In  this  reaction,  water  plays  virtually  the  part  of 
a  sympathetic  fluid,  and  tracing  the  characters  with 
water  on  sized  and  calendered  paper,  the  writing  will 
show  perfectly  plain  when  the  paper  is  dried  and 
exposed  to  action  of  iodine  vapor.  The  brownish 
violet  shade  on  a  yellowish  ground  will  evolve  to  a 
dark  blue  on  a  light  blue  ground  after  wetting.  These 
characters  disappear  immediately  under  the  action  of 
sulphurous  acid,  but  will  reappear  after  the  first  dis- 
coloration provided  the  paper  has  not  been  wet  and 
the  discoloration  has  been  effected  by  the  use  of 
sulphurous  acid  gas. 

"The  process,  therefore,  affords  means  for  tracing 
characters  which  become  legible  and  can  be  caused  to 
disappear,  but  at  will  to  reappear  again,  or  which  can 
be  used  for  one  time  only  and  be  canceled  forever 
afterwards. 

"The  usual  method  of  verifying  whether  paper  has 
been  rubbed  is  to  examine  it  as  to  its  transparency. 
If  the  erasure  has  been  so  great  as  to  remove  a  con- 

•  221 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

siderable  portion  of  the  paper,  the  erased  surface  is  of 
greater  translucency ;  but  if  the  erasure  has  been  effected 
with  great  care,  examining  same  close  to  a  light  will 
disclose  it;  the  erased  part  being  duller  than  the 
surrounding  surface  because  of  the  partial  upheaval 
of  the  fibers. 

"  If  an  erasure  is  effected  by  means  of  bread  crumbs 
instead  of  India  rubber,  and  care  is  taken  to  erase  in 
one  direction  the  change  escapes  notice;  and  it  is 
generally  impossible  to  detect  it,  should  the  paper  thus 
handled  be  written  upon  again. 

"Iodine  vapors,  however,  show  all  traces  of  these 
manipulations  very  plainly  giving  their  location  with 
perfect  certainty.  The  erased  surfaces  assume  a 
yellow  brown  or  brownish  tint.  If,  after  being  sub- 
jected to  the  action  of  the  iodine,  the  paper  on  which 
an  erasure  has  been  made  is  wet,  it  becomes  of  a  blue 
color  the  intensity  of  which  is  commensurate  with  the 
length  of  time  to  which  it  has  been  under  the  action 
of  the  idione,  and  when  the  paper  is  again  dried  the 
erased  portions  are  more  or  less  darker  than  the  re- 
mainder of  the  sheet.  On  the  other  hand  when  the 
erasure  has  been  so  rough  as  to  take  off  an  important 
part  of  the  material  exposure  to  iodine,  wetting,  and 
drying  result  in  less  intensity  to  coloration  on  the  parts 
erased,  because  the  erasing  in  its  mechanical  action  of 
carrying  off  parts  of  the  paper  removes  also  parts  of 
the  substance  which  in  combination  with  iodine  give 
birth  to  the  blue  tint.  Consequently  the  action  of 
the  iodine  differs  acccording  to  the  extent  of  the 
erasure. 

"When  paper  is  partially  erased  and  wet,  as  when 
letters  are  copied,  the  same  result  although  not  so 

222 


ERASED  AND  MANIPULATED  PAPER 

striking  follows  upon  exposing  it  to  the  iodine  vapor 
after  letting  it  dry  thoroughly. 

"Iodine  affords  in  certain  cases  the  means  of  de- 
tecting the  nature  of  the  substance  used  for  erasing. 
Bread  crumbs  or  India  rubber  turn  yellow  or  brownish 
yellow  tints  and  these  are  distinguished  by  more 
intense  coloration ;  erasure  by  means  of  bread  crumbs 
causing  the  paper  to  take  a  violet  shade  of  great 
uniformity.  These  peculiarities  are  due  to  the  up- 
heaval of  the  fibers  caused  by  rubbing.  In  fact 
this  upheaval  creates  a  larger  absorbing  surface  and 
consequently  a  larger  proportion  of  iodine  can  cover  the 
rubbed  parts  than  it  would  if  there  had  been  no  friction. 

"When  paper  upon  which  writing  has  been  traced 
with  a  glass  rod,  the  tip  of  which  is  perfectly  round 
and  smooth,  is  exposed  to  iodine  vapor,  the  char- 
acters appear  brown  on  yellow  ground  which  wetting 
turns  to  blue.  This  change  also  occurs  when  the  paper 
written  upon  has  been  run  through  a  super-calender. 
If  the  paper  is  not  wet  the  characters  can  be  made  to 
appear  or  be  blotted  by  the  successive  action  of 
sulphurous  and  iodine  vapor. 

"  Writing  done  by  means  of  glass  tips  instead  of  pens 
will  show  very  little,  especially  when  traced  between 
the  lines  written  in  ink.  The  reaction,  however,  is  of 
such  sensitiveness  that  where  characters  have  been 
traced  on  a  piece  of  paper  under  others  they  appear 
very  plainly,  although  physical  examination  would 
fail  to  reveal  their  existence,  but  a  somewhat  lengthy 
exposure  to  iodine  vapors  will  suffice  to  show  them. 

<:If  the  wrong  side  of  the  paper  is  exposed  to  the 
iodine  vapor  the  characters  are  visible;  but  of  course 
in  their  inverted  position. 

223 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

"If  the  erasure  has  been  so  great  as  to  take  off  a 
part  of  the  substance  of  the  paper  the  reconstruction 
of  the  writing,  so  as  to  make  it  legible,  may  be  regarded 
as  impossible.  But  in  this  case  subjecting  the  re- 
verse side  of  the  paper  to  the  influence  of  the  iodine 
will  bring  out  the  reverse  outlines  of  the  blotted-out 
characters  so  plainly  that  they  can  be  read,  especially 
if  the  paper  is  placed  before  a  mirror.  In  some  in- 
stances, when  pencil  writing  has  been  strong  enough, 
its  traces  can  be  reproduced  in  a  letter  press  by  wetting 
a  sheet  of  sized  and  calendered  paper  in  the  usual  way 
that  press  copies  are  taken,  placing  it  on  paper  sat- 
urated with  iodine  and  putting  the  two  sheets  in  a 
letter  book  under  the  press,  copies  being  run  off  as  is 
usual  in  copying  letters.  The  operation,  however, 
must  be  very  rapidly  carried  out  to  be  successful. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  certainty  of  these  reactions 
depends  entirely  upon  the  class  of  paper  used.  Paper 
slightly  sized  or  poorly  calendered  will  not  show  them. 

"Another  point  consists  in  knowing  how  long  paper 
will  contain  these  reactive  properties.  In  my  own 
experience  the  fact  has  been  demonstrated  that  ir- 
regular wetting  and  rubbing  three  months  old  can  be 
plainly  shown  after  this  lapse  of  time.  Characters 
traced  with  glass  rod  tips  could  be  made  conspicuous. 
I  have  noticed  that  immersing  the  written  paper  in 
a  water  bath  for  three  to  six  hours  will  secure  better 
reactions,  but  although  these  reactions  are  very 
characteristic  they  are  considerably  weaker." 


224 


XXI 

Forgery  as  a  Profession 


CHAPTER   XXI 
FORGERY  AS   A   PROFESSION 

How  Professional  Forgers  Work  —  Valuable  Points  for  Bankers 
and  Business  Men  —  Personnel  of  a  Professional  Forgery  Gang 
—  The  Scratcher,  Layer-down,  Presenter  and  Middleman  — 
How  Banks  Are  Defrauded  by  Raised  and  Forged  Paper  — 
Detailed  Method  of  the  Work  —  Dividing  the  Spoils  —  Action 
in  Case  of  Arrest  —  Employing  Attorneys  —  What  "Fall" 
Money  Is  —  Fixing  a  Jury  —  Politicians  with  a  Pull  —  Pro- 
tecting Criminals  —  Full  Description  of  How  Checks  and  Drafts 
Are  Altered  —  Alterations,  Erasures  and  Chemicals  —  Raising 
Any  Paper  —  Alert  Cashiers  and  Tellers  —  Different  Methods  of 
Protection.  * 

Professional  forgers  usually  make  their  homes  in 
large  cities.  They  are  constantly  studying  schemes 
and  organizing  gangs  of  men  to  defraud  banks,  trust 
companies  and  money  lenders  by  means  of  forged 
checks,  notes,  drafts,  bills  of  exchange,  letters  of  credit, 
and  in  some  instances  altering  registered  government 
and  other  bonds,  and  counterfeitering  the  bonds  of 
corporations.  These  bonds  they  dispose  of  or  hy- 
pothecate to  obtain  loans  on. 

A  professional  forgery  gang  consists  of:  First,  a 
capitalist  or  backer;  second,  the  actual  forger,  who 
is  known  among  his  associates  as  the  "scratcher"; 
third,  the  man  who  acts  as  confidential  agent  for  the 
forger,  who  is  known  as  the  "middleman"  or  the 
"go-between";  fourth,  the  man  who  presents  the 

[This  Chapter  was  written  for  this  work  by  the  manager  of  one  of  the  largest 
detective  agencies  in  the  United  States.  They  make  a  specialty  of  bank  work  and 
from  the  number  of  forgers  apprehended  and  convicted  know  just  how  the  work  is 
done.  A  ^careful  reading  of  this  chapter  will  put  bankers  and  the  public  on  their 
guard  against  the  most  pestiferous  rascals  they  have  to  deal  with.] 

227 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

forged  paper  at  the  bank  for  payment,  who  is  known 
as  the  "layer-down"  or  "presenter." 

The  duties  of  the  "middleman "  or  "  go-between "  are 
to  receive  from  the  forger  or  his  confidential  agent  the 
altered  or  forged  paper.  He  finds  the  man  to  "pre- 
sent" the  same,  accompanies  his  confederates  on  their 
forgery  trips  throughout  the  country,  acts  as  the 
agent  of  the  backer  in  dealing  out  money  for  expenses, 
sees  that  their  plan  of  operations  is  carried  out,  and, 
in  fact,  becomes  the  general  manager  of  the  band. 
He  is  in  full  control  of  the  men  who  act  as  "  presenters  " 
of  the  forged  paper.  If  there  be  more  than  one  man 
to  "present"  the  paper,  the  middleman,  as  a  rale,  will 
not  allow  them  to  become  known  to  each  other.  He 
meets  them  in  secluded  places,  generally  in  little  out- 
of-the-way  saloons.  In  summer  time  a  favorite  meet- 
ing place  is  some  secluded  spot  in  the  public  parks. 
At  one  meeting  he  makes  an  appointment  for  the 
next  meeting.  He  uses  great  care  in  making  these 
appointments,  so  that  the  different  "presenters"  do 
not  come  together  and  thereby  become  known  to  each 
other.  The  middleman  is  usually  selected  for  his 
firmness  of  character.  He  must  be  a  man  known 
among  criminals  as  a  "staunch"  man,  one  who  can- 
not be  easily  frightened  by  detectives  when  arrested, 
no  matter  what  pressure  may  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  him.  He  must  have  such  an  acquaintanceship 
among  criminals  as  will  enable  him  to  select  other  men 
who  are  "staunch"  and  who  are  not  apt  to  talk  and 
tell  their  business,  whether  sober  or  under  the  influence 
of  liquor.  It  is  from  among  this  class  of  acquaintances 
that  he  selects  the  men  to  "present"  the  forged  paper. 
It  is  an  invariable  rule  followed  by  the  backer  and  the 

228 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

forger  that  in  selecting  a  middleman  they  select  one 
who  not  only  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  "staunch" 
man,  but  he  must  also  be  a  man  who  has  at  least  one 
record  of  conviction  standing  against  him.  This  is 
for  the  additional  protection  of  the  backer  and  forger, 
as  they  know  that  in  law  the  testimony  of  an  accomplice 
who  is  also  an  ex-convict,  should  he  conclude  to  be- 
come a  state's  witness,  would  have  to  be  strongly 
corroborated  before  a  court  or  jury  in  order  to  be 
believed. 

As  the  capitalist  and  forger,  for  self -protection,  use 
great  care  in  selecting  a  "middleman,"  the  middleman 
to  protect  himself  also  uses  the  same  care  in  the  selec- 
tion of  men  to  "present"  the  forged  paper.  He  en- 
deavors, like  the  backer  and  forger,  to  throw  as  much 
protection  around  himself  as  possible,  and  for  the 
same  reasons  he  also  uses  ex-convicts  as  the  men  to 
"present"  the  forged  paper  at  the  banks.  The 
"presenters"  are  of  all  ages  and  appearances,  from  the 
party  who  will  pass  as  an  errand  boy,  messenger, 
porter,  or  clerk,  to  the  prosperous  business  man,  horse 
trader,  stock  buyer,  or  farmer.  When  a  presenter 
enters  a  bank  to  "lay  down"  a  forged  paper,  the  "go- 
between"  will  sometimes  enter  the  bank  with  him  and 
stand  outside  the  counter,  noting  carefully  if  there  is 
any  suspicious  action  on  the  part  of  the  paying  teller 
when  the  forged  paper  is  presented  to  him,  and  whether 
the  "presenter"  carries  himself  properly  and  does  his 
part  well.  But  usually  the  middleman  prefers  waiting 
outside  the  bank  for  the  "presenter,"  possibly  watch- 
ing him  through  a  window  from  the  street.  If  the 
"presenter"  is  successful  and  gets  the  money  on  the 
forged  paper,  the  middleman  will  follow  him  when  he 

229 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

leaves  the  bank  to  some  convenient  spot  where,  with- 
out attracting  attention,  he  receives  the  money.  He 
then  gives  the  presenter  another  piece  of  forged  paper, 
drawn  on  some  neighboring  bank.  They  go  from 
bank  to  bank,  usually  victimizing  from  three  to  five 
banks  in  each  city,  their  work  being  completed  gen- 
erally in  less  than  an  hour's  time.  All  money  obtained 
from  the  various  banks  on  the  forged  paper  is 
immediately  turned  over  to  the  middleman,  who  furn- 
ishes all  the  money  for  current  expenses.  After  the 
work  is  completed  the  presenters  leave  the  city  by 
different  routes,  first  having  agreed  on  a  meeting  point 
in  some  neighboring  city.  The  "presenters"  frequent- 
ly walk  out  of  the  city  to  some  outlying  station  on  the 
line  of  the  road  they  propose  to  take  to  their  next 
destination.  This  precaution  is  taken  to  avoid  arrest 
at  the  depot  in  case  the  forgery  is  discovered  before 
they  can  leave  the  city.  At  the  next  meeting-point 
the  middleman,  having  deducted  the  expenses  ad- 
vanced, pays  the  "presenters"  their  percentage  of  the 
money  obtained  on  the  forged  paper. 

A  band  of  professional  forgers  before  starting  out 
always  agree  on  a  basis  of  division  of  all  moneys  ob- 
tained on  their  forged  paper.  This  division  might 
be  about  as  follows:  For  a  presenter  where  the 
amount  to  be  drawn  does  not  exceed  $2,000,  15  to  25 
per  cent;  but  where  the  amount  to  be  drawn  is 
from  $3,000  to  $5,000  and  upwards,  the  "presenter" 
receives  from  35  to  45  per  cent.  The  price  is  raised 
as  the  risk  increases,  and  it  is  generally  considered  a 
greater  risk  to  attempt  to  pass  a  check  or  draft  of  a 
large  denomination  than  a  smaller  one.  The  middle- 
man gets  from  15  to  25  per  cent.  His  work  is  more, 

230 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

and  his  responsibility  is  greater,  but  the  risk  is  less. 
There  are  plenty  of  middlemen  to  be  had,  but  the 
"presenters"  are  scarce.  The  "shadow,"  when  one 
accompanies  the  band,  is  sometimes  paid  a  salary  by 
the  middleman  and  his  expenses,  but  at  other  times 
he  is  allowed  a  small  percentage,  not  to  exceed  5  per 
cent,  and  his  expenses,  as  with  ordinary  care  his  risk 
is  very  slight.  The  backer  and  forger  get  the  balance, 
which  usually  amounts  to  from  50  to  60  per  cent. 
The  expenses  that  have  been  advanced  the  men  who 
go  out  on  the  road  are  usually  deducted  at  the  final 
division. 

In  case  of  the  arrest  of  one  of  the  "presenters"  in 
the  act  of  "laying  down"  forged  paper,  the  middle- 
man or  shadow  immediately  notifies  other  members 
of  the  band  who  may  be  in  the  city.  All  attempts  to 
get  money  from  the  other  banks  are  stopped,  and  the 
other  members  of  the  band  leave  the  city  as  best  they 
can  to  meet  at  some  designated  point  in  a  near-by  city. 
Out  of  their  first  successful  forgeries  a  certain  sum 
from  each  man's  share  is  held  by  the  "middleman"  to 
be  used  in  the  defense  of  any  member  of  the  band  who 
may  be  arrested  on  the  trip.  This  money  is  called 
"fall  money,"  and  is  used  to  employ  counsel  for  the 
men  under  arrest,  or  to  do  anything  for  them  that 
may  be  for  their  interest.  Any  part  of  this  money 
not  used  is  paid  back  in  proportion  to  the  amount  ad- 
vanced to  the  various  members  of  the  band  from  whose 
share  it  has  been  retained.  Sometimes,  however,  in 
forming  a  band  of  forgers  there  is  an  understanding 
or  agreement  entered  into  at  the  outset  that  each  man 
"  stand  on  his  own  bottom"  —  that  is,  if  arrested,  take 
care  of  himself.  When  this  is  agreed  to,  the  men  ar- 

231 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

rested  must  get  out  as  best  they  can.  Under  these 
circumstances  there  is  no  assessment  for  "fall  money," 
but  usually  the  men  who  present  the  paper  insist  on 
"fall  money"  being  put  up,  as  it  assures  them  the  aid 
of  some  one  of  the  band  working  earnestly  in  their  be- 
half and  watching  their  interests,  outside  of  the  at- 
torney retained. 

When  one  of  the  party  is  arrested,  an  attorney  is 
at  once  sent  to  him.  As  a  rule,  in  selecting  an  attor- 
ney, one  is  employed  who  is  known  as  a  good  crim- 
inal lawyer.  It  is  also  preferred  that  he  should  be  a 
lawyer  who  has  some  political  weight.  The  middle- 
man employs  the  attorney,  and  pays  him  out  of  the 
"fall  money."  The  arrested  man  is  strictly  instructed 
by  the  attorney  to  do  no  talking,  and  is  usually  en- 
couraged by  the  promise  that  they  will  have  him 
out  in  a  short  time.  In  order  to  keep  him  quiet,  this 
promise  is  frequently  renewed  by  the  attorney  acting 
for  the  "middleman."  This  is  done  to  prevent  a 
confession  being  made  in  case  the  arrested  man 
should  show  signs  of  weakening.  Finally,  when  he 
is  forced  to  stand  trial,  if  the  case  is  one  certain  of 
conviction,  the  attorney  will  get  him  to  plead  guilty, 
with  the  promise  of  a  short  sentence,  and  will  then 
bargain  to  this  end  with  the  court  or  prosecutor. 
Thus  guided  by  the  attorney  selected  and  acting  for 
the  "middleman"  and  his  associates,  the  prisoner 
pleads  guilty,  and  frequently  discovers,  when  it  is  too 
late,  that  he  has  been  tricked  into  keeping  his  mouth 
shut  in  the  interests  of  his  associates.  It  is  but  fair 
to  state,  however,  that  if  money  can  save  an  arrested 
party,  and  if  his  associates  have  it,  they  will  use  it 
freely  among  attorneys  or  "jury  fixers,"  where  the 

232 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

latter  can  be  made  use  of,  and  frequently  it  is  paid  to 
politicians  who  make  a  pretense  of  having  a  "pull" 
with  the  prosecuting  officers  of  the  court. 

In  most  instances  when  checks  are  sent  out  they 
are  not  seen  again  by  the  maker  for  a  period  of  days. 
As  business  houses  of  any  considerable  magnitude 
always  have  a  comfortable  balance  with  their  bankers, 
ample  time  and  an  abundance  of  cash  are  thus  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  check-raisers. 

As  to  the  best  methods  of  raising  checks  so  that  the 
fraud  will  not  be  readily  detected,  much  depends  upon 
the  way  in  which  they  are  written.  The  style  of 
handwriting,  the  texture  and  quality  of  the  paper, 
and  the  chemical  properties  of  the  inks,  are  points 
which  are  necessary  to  be  considered. 

Many  checks  may  be  altered  to  a  larger  amount  by 
the  mere  addition  of  a  stroke  of  the  pen  here  or  the 
erasure  of  a  line,  by  means  of  chemicals,  in  some  other 
place.  For  instance,  take  a  check  of  $100,  no  matter 
how  it  may  be  written,  there  are  five  or  six  different 
ways  in  which  it  may  be  altered  to  a  much  larger 
amount,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  defy  the  scrutiny 
of  the  most  careful  bank  teller.  It  may  be  made  into 
six  hundred  by  merely  adding  the  "S"  loop  to  the 
"O,"  dotting  the  first  part  of  the  "n"  to  make  of 
it  an  "i,"  and  crossing  the  connecting  stroke  between 
the  "n"  and  the  "e"  to  form  the  "x."  To  complete 
the  change  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  erase  with 
chemicals  part  of  the  "e." 

A  check  for  one  hundred  dollars  may  also  be  easily 
altered  to  eight  hundred  dollars,  especially  when  suffi- 
cient space  has  been  left  between  the  "one"  and  the 
"hundred,"  as  follows:  Add  to  the  "O"  the  top  part 

233 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

of  an  "E,"  dot  part  of  the  "n"  to  form  an  "i,"  con- 
nect the  remaining  part  of  the  "n"  with  the  "e," 
forming  the  loop  of  a  "g,"  and  then  add  "ht."  The 
figure  "i"  is  very  easily  changed  to  "8." 

Sometimes  a  small  capital  is  used  for  an  "o."  In 
this  case  an  alteration  into  "Four"  hundred  is  easily 
accomplished  by  simply  prefixing  a  capital  "F"  and 
transforming  the  "e"  into  an  "r,"  the  "n"  being 
made  to  serve  as  a  "u." 

Another  change  frequently  made  is  to  "Ten"  hun- 
dred. It  is  done  simply  by  adding  the  stem  and  top 
part  of  the  "T"  to  the  "0"  and  changing  the  first 
part  of  the  "u"  to  an  "e." 

Of  course,  any  of  the  foregoing  changes  may  be 
made  with  equal  facility  whether  the  amount  be 
' '  hundred  "  or  "  thousand. ' ' 

Two  hundred,  if  anything,  is  a  much  easier  amount 
to  alter  than  one  hundred.  It  is  done  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  Make  an  "F"  by  simply  crossing  the 
"T;"  dot  the  first  part  of  the  "w"  to  make  an  "i." 
and  change  the  "  o"  into  an  "e."  The  figure  "  2"  can 
be  made  into  a  perfect  "  5  "  by  simply  adding  the  top 
part  of  the  "5"  to  it. 

Three  hundred  is  not  so  easily  altered ;  still  it  may 
be  done  by  changing  the  word  "hundred"  into  a 
"thousand"-— an  alteration  which  is  by  no  means 
rare,  and  which  is  quite  simple,  especially  when  the 
word  is  begun  with  a  small  "  h."  The  modus  operandi 
is  as  follows:  Place  a  capital  "T"  before  the  "h"; 
change  the  first  part  of  the  "u"  into  an  "o,"  connect- 
ing it  with  the  second  part,  which,  with  the  first  part 
of  the  "u,"  will  form  a  "u";  change  the  second  part 
of  the  "u"  to  an  "s";  erase  the  top  part  of  the  "d," 

234 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

making  of  it  an  "a,"  and  complete  the  alteration  by 
making  an  "n"  of  the  "r"  and  "e."  This  alteration 
may  appear  to  be  somewhat  complicated,  but  a  trial 
of  it  according  to  direction  will  show  how  nicely  it 
may  be  done. 

"Four"  is  another  easy  amount  to  alter.  It  is 
done  by  extending  the  second  part  of  the  "u"  into 
a  "  t,"  and  adding  the  "  y  "  loop  to  the  "  r."  "  Five  is 
changed  into  "  Fifty  "  and  "  Fifteen."  "  Six,"  "Seven," 
"Eight,"  and  "Nine"  are  changed  into  "Sixty," 
"Seventy,"  "Eighty,"  and  "Ninety"  by  simply 
affixing  the  syllable  "ty."  "Twenty"  is  another 
easily^changed  amount ;  all  that  is  necessary  to  make 
"Seventy"  of  it  is  to  make  an  "S"  of  the  "T,"  and 
change  the  first  part  of  the  "w"  into  an  "e."  To 
make  the  alteration  perfect,  the  top  part  of  the  "T" 
must  be  erased  with  chemicals. 

In  regard  to  the  chemicals  used  to  erase  ink,  much 
depends  upon  the  ink.  For  most  writing  fluids  and 
copying  inks  which,  are  in  daily  use,  a  saturated  solu- 
tion of  chloride  of  lime  is  the  best  eraser  known,  and 
when  properly  made  is  very  quick  and  effective  in  its 
work.  It  may  be  applied  with  a  glass  pointed  pen, 
to  avoid  corrosion,  or  with  a  clean  bit  of  sponge.  It 
acts  as  a  powerful  bleach,  and  with  it  the  face  of  a 
check  may  be  washed  as  white  as  before  it  was  written 
upon.  When  inks  have  become  dry  and  hard,  some- 
times carbolic  or  acetic  acid  is  used  effectively  with 
the  chlorine.  The  application  of  any  alkali  or  acid 
to  the  clean  polished  surface  of  a  check  will,  of 
course,  destroy  the  finish  and  leave  a  perceptible 
stain,  but  the  work  of  covering  up  these  traces  is  quite 
as  simple  as  removing  the  ink  in  the  first  place. 

235 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

A  favorite  trick  of  forgers  and  check  and  draft 
raisers,  who  operate  on  an  extensive  scale,  is  for  one 
of  them  to  open  an  office  in  a  city  and  represent  him- 
self as  a  cattle  dealer,  lumber  merchant,  or  one  look- 
ing about  for  favorable  real-estate  investments.  His 
first  move  is  to  open  a  bank  account,  and  then  work 
to  get  on  friendly  terms  with  the  cashier.  He  always 
keeps  a  good  balance  —  sometimes  way  up  in  the 
thousands  —  and  deports  himself  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  lead  to  the  belief  that  he  is  a  highly  honorable 
gentleman,  and  the  bank  officials  are  led  to  the  belief 
that  he  will  eventually  become  a  very  profitable 
customer. 

Occasionally  he  has  a  note,  for  a  small  amount  to 
begin  with,  always  first-class  two-name  paper,  and  he 
never  objects  —  usually  insists  —  on  paying  a  trifle 
more  than  the  regular  discount.  At  first  the  bank 
officials  closely  examine  the  paper  offered,  and  of 
course  find  that  the  endorsers  are  men  of  high  stand- 
ing, and  then  their  confidence  in  the  "cattle  king"  is 
unbounded.  Gradually  the  notes  increase  in  amount, 
from  a  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  two  or  three  thousand.  The  notes 
are  promptly  paid  at  maturity.  After  the  confidence 
of  the  bank  people  has  been  completely  gained,  the 
swindler  makes  a  strike  for  his  greatest  effort.  He 
comes  in  the  bank  in  a  hurry,  presents  a  sixty-day 
note,  endorsed  by  first-class  men,  for  a  larger  amount 
than  he  has  ever  before  requested,  and  it  generally 
happens  that  he  gets  the  money  without  the  slight- 
est difficulty.  Then  he  has  a  sudden  call  to  attend  to 
important  business  elsewhere.  When  the  note  or 
notes  mature,  it  is  discovered  to  be  a  very  clever  for- 

236 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

gery.  This  has  been  done  time  and  again,  and  it  is 
rare  that  the  forger  has  been  apprehended. 

The  latest  mode  is  for  the  forger  to  imitate  a  private 
check  by  the  photo-lithographic  method,  after  having 
obtained  a  signed  check.  The  signature,  after  being 
photographed,  is  carefully  traced  over  with  ink,  and 
the  body  of  the  check  is  filled  up  for  whatever  amount 
is  desired.  The  maker  of  the  check  is  requested  to 
identify  the  person  who  holds  it,  and  as  a  general 
thing  he  does  not  wait  to  see  the  money  paid.  The 
moment  his  back  is  turned,  the  layer-down  palms  the 
small  check  and  presents  the  large  one.  This  way  of 
obtaining  money  is  without  the  assistance  of  a  middle- 
man. 

Private  marks  on  checks  are  no  safeguards  at  all, 
although  a  great  many  merchants  believe  they  can 
prevent  forgery  by  making  certain  dots,  or  seeming 
slips  of  the  pen,  which  are  known  only  to  the  paying- 
teller  and  themselves.  This  precaution  becomes  use- 
less when  the  forger  uses  the  camera.  Safe-breakers 
are  often  called  upon  by  forgers  and  asked  to  secure 
a  sheet  of  checks  out  of  a  check-book.  When  this  is 
accomplished  a  few  canceled  checks  are  taken  at  the 
same  time.  These  are  given  to  the  forger  and  he  fills 
them  up  for  large  amounts,  after  tracing  or  copying 
the  signature.  The  safe  burglars  receive  a  percentage 
on  the  amount  realized.  If  your  safe,  vault  or  desk 
is  broken  open  where  your  check-book  is  kept,  care- 
fully count  the  leaves  in  your  check-book,  also  your 
canceled  checks.  If  any  are  missing  notify  the  banks 
and  begin  using  a  different  style  of  check  immediately. 
The  sneak-thief,  while  plying  his  trade,  often  secures 
unsigned  bonds  of  some  corporation  which  has  put 

237 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

the  signed  bonds  in  circulation,  leaving  the  rest  un- 
signed until  the  next  meeting  of  the  directors. 

Frequently  unsigned  bonds  are  left  in  the  bank 
vault  for  safe  keeping.  These  are  stolen  and  sent  to 
the  penman  or  "scratcher."  Then  a  genuine  signed 
bond  is  purchased,  from  which  the  signatures  are 
copied  and  then  forged.  The  same  trick  has  been 
played  on  unsigned  bank  notes,  but  on  the  bank  notes 
almost  any  name  will  do,  as  no  person  looks  at  the 
signature,  as  long  as  the  note  appears  genuine. 

The  ingenuity  of  a  countless  army  of  sharpers  is 
constantly  at  work  in  this  country,  devising  plans  to 
obtain  funds  dishonestly,  without  work,  but,  in  fact, 
they  often  expend  more  time,  skill  and  labor  in  carry- 
ing out  their  nefarious  schemes,  than  would  serve  to 
earn  the  sum  they  finally  secure,  by  honest  labor. 
Every  banker  must,  therefore,  be  on  his  guard,  and 
should  acquaint  himself  with  the  most  approved 
means  of  detecting  and  avoiding  the  most  common 
swindlers.  This  is  just  as  necessary  as  it  is  to  lock  his 
books  and  cash  in  his  safe  before  going  home. 

Next  to  the  counterfeiter,  the  forger  is  the  most 
dangerous  criminal  in  business  life.  Transactions 
involving  the  largest  sums  of  money  are  completed  on 
the  faith  in  the  genuineness  of  a  signature.  Hence 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  acquire  the  art  of  de- 
tecting an  imitation  at  a  glance.  This  can  only  be 
done  by  considerable  practice.  It  is  asserted  that 
every  signature  has  character  about  it  which  can  not 
be  perfectly  copied,  and  which  can  always  be  detected 
by  an  experienced  eye.  This  is  problematical,  but 
certainly  a  skillful  bank-teller  can  hardly  be  deceived 
by  the  forgery  of  a  name  of  a  well-known  depositor. 

238 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

A  banker  and  business  man  should  accustom  him- 
self to  scrutinize  closely  the  signatures  of  those  with 
whom  he  deals.  He  should  cut  off  their  names  from 
the  backs  of  checks  and  notes,  and  paste  then  in 
alphabetical  order  in  an  autograph  book  devoted  to 
that  purpose,  and  compare  any  suspicious  signature 
with  the  genuine  one. 

In  consequence  of  the  numerous  frauds  committed 
by  forged  checks,  some  of  the  European  bankers  have 
adopted  the  custom  of  sending  with  their  letter  of 
advice  a  photograph  of  the  person  in  whose  favor  the 
credit  has  been  issued,  and  to  stop  the  payment  when 
the  person  who  presents  himself  at  the  bank  does  not 
resemble  the  picture.  If  this  practice  were  to  become 
universal,  the  object  of  preventing  frauds  could  be 
well  attained. 

It  is  probably  a  fair  statement  to  make  that  any 
draft  issued  can  be  raised,  but  it  is  unquestionably 
true  that  some  can  be  much  more  easily  altered  than 
others,  and  as  in  the  last  ten  years  additional  safe- 
guards have  been  thrown  around  the  bills  of  exchange 
of  banks,  so  the  forger  has  become  more  and  more 
expert  and  proficient,  just  about  keeping  the  pace. 
As  the  question  of  armor  that  can  not  be  pierced  and 
projectiles  that  will  pierce  anything  are  first  one  and 
then  the  other  a  little  ahead,  so  it  is  with  the  bank 
forger  and  the  banks. 

Admirable  as  some  of  the  work  unquestionably  is, 
if  anything  so  disreputable  can  be  called  admirable, 
there  is  even  yet  a  something  about  either  the  work 
or  the  operator  that  should  arouse  the  suspicions  of 
the  teller  or  cashier  who  is  on  the  alert;  and  a  teller 
or  cashier  without  suspicion,  and  who  is  not  on  the 

239 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

alert,  may  be  a  comparatively  good  man,  but  is  cer- 
tainly in  the  wrong  place. 

The  presenter  of  a  counterfeit  bill  at  the  teller's 
window  may  have  no  knowledge  of  the  character  of 
the  bill  that  he  is  presenting,  but  he  who  presents  a 
forged  draft,  in  addition  to  presenting  a  bad  bill,  has 
a  consciousness  himself  of  the  fraud  that  he  is  at- 
tempting, thus  giving  the  teller  not  only  the  chance  of 
scrutinizing  the  bill,  but  also  to  judge  of  the  appear- 
ance, whether  nervous  or  otherwise,  of  the  man  who 
is  laying  the  trap,  and  these  two  facts  should  inure 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  teller. 

As  the  news  of  the  many  successful  depredations  is 
scattered,  we  see  banks  trying  different  methods  of 
protection,  many  of  which  at  first  glance  are  admir- 
able, but  which  it  will  be  seen  on  a  little  careful  study 
simply  require  but  slight  change  of  method  on  the  part 
of  the  professional  forger  to  successfully  evade.  For 
instance:  Many  banks  are  daily  advising  their  corre- 
spondents of  the  number  and  amounts  of  drafts  issued, 
either  in  the  course  of  the  mails  or  otherwise.  This 
at  first  sight  would  seem  to  be  almost  absolute  pro- 
tection, but  it  really  may  prove  a  trap  to  the  bank  so 
advised,  as  may  readily  be  seen.  Let  us  suppose  that 
Mr.  Forger  steps  into  a  bank  in  Cleveland,  buys  a 
draft  for  $5 ;  a  day  or  two  later,  or  on  the  same  day, 
he  buys  another  draft  for  $5,000.  The  first  draft  is 
successfully  altered  to  $5,000,  but  would  not  of  course 
be  paid  by  the  correspondent  bank  for  this  amount, 
because  of  the  advice  they  have  of  this  number  is  that 
it  was  issued  for  $5 ;  but  it  was  a  simpler  matter  to 
change  the  number  of  the  draft  to  correspond  with 
the  $5,000  draft,  the  number  of  which  the  forger  has, 

240 


FORGERY  AS  A  PROFESSION 

than  it  is  to  make  the  other  alterations  necessary  to 
raise  it  from  $5  to  $5,000.  After  making  these  altera- 
tions it  goes  in  for  payment,  and  on  reference  to  the 
advice  sheet  it  is  found  that  this  apparent  number 
was  issued  for  $5,000  and  paid  accordingly.  Then 
the  forgers  have  simply  the  problem  on  hand  to  avail 
themselves,  either  directly  through  the  bank  of  issue 
or  elsewhere  of  this  genuine  $5,000  draft,  which  is 
certainly  not  a  hard  task  for  the  men  who  have  suc- 
cessfully performed  the  harder  one. 


241 


XXII 
A  Famous  Forgery 


CHAPTER   XXII 
A   FAMOUS   FORGERY 

The  Morey-Garfield  Letter  —  Attempt  to  Defeat  Mr.  Garfield  for 
the  Presidency  —  A  Clumsy  Forgery  —  Both  Letters  Repro- 
duced —  Evidences  of  Forgery  Pointed  Out  —  The  Work  of  an 
Illiterate  Man  —  Crude  Imitations  Apparent  —  Undoubtedly 
the  Greatest  Forgery  of  the  Age  —  General  Garfield's  Quick 
Disclaimer  Kills  Effect  of  the  Forgery  —  The  Letters  Compared 
and  Evidences  of  Forgery  Made  Complete. 

Very  few  cases  have  arisen  in  this  country  in  which 
the  genuineness  of  handwriting  was  the  chief  conten- 
tion, and  in  which  such  momentous  interests  were  at 
stake,  as  in  the  case  of  the  forged  "Morey-Garfield 
Letter."  It  was  such  as  to  arouse  and  alarm  every 
citizen  of  the  republic.  A  few  days  prior  to  the 
presidential  election  of  1880,  in  which  James  A.  Gar- 
field  was  the  Republican  nominee,  there  was  published 
in  a  New  York  Democratic  daily  paper,  a  letter  pur- 
porting to  have  been  written  to  a  Mr.  H.  L.  Morey. 
who  was  alleged  to  have  been  connected  with  an 
organization  of  the  cheap-labor  movement.  The 
letter,  if  written  by  Mr.  Garfield,  committed  him  in 
the  broadest  and  fullest  manner  to  the  employment  of 
Chinese  cheap  labor.  It  was  a  cheap  political  trick, 
a  rank  forgery,  and  the  purpose  of  the  letter  was  to 
arouse  the  labor  vote  in  close  states  against  Mr.  Gar- 
field.  It  was  also  a  bungling  forgery.  We  present 
herewith  facsimiles  of  the  forged  letter  and  one 
written  by  Mr.  Garfield  branding  the  Morey  letter  a 
fraud. 

245 


THE  MOREY-GARFIELO  FORGERY 


**™^» 


CX      f 


LETTER  WRITTEN   BY  GARFIELD. 


Jf  ^^ 

'^^^SUX^^  £L<L&r 


247 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

The  Morey  letter  was  evidently  written  by  an  unedu- 
cated man.  Here  are  three  instances  of  wrong  spelling 
that  a  man  of  Mr.  Garfield's  education  could  not 
possibly  make.  The  words  "ecomony"  and  ''Com- 
panys"  in  the  eighth  line  and  "  religeously "  in  the 
twelfth  line  give  evidence  of  a  fraudulent  and  deceitful 
letter  at  once. 

The  misplacing  of  the  dot  to  the  "  i"  in  the  signature 
to  the  left  of  the  "f"  and  over  the  "r"  is  a  mistake 
quite  natural  to  a  hand  unaccustomed  to  making  it, 
but  a  very  improbable  and  remarkable  mistake  for 
one  to  make  in  writing  his  own  name.  Another 
noticeable  feature  in  the  Morey  letter  is  the  conspic- 
uous variations  in  the  sizes  and  forms  of  the  letters. 
Notice  the  three  "1's"  in  the  fifth  line.  Variations  so 
great  in  such  close  connection  seldom  occur  in  any- 
thing like  an  educated  and  practiced  hand.  The  "J" 
in  the  signature  of  the  Morey  letter  has  a  slope  incon- 
sistent with  the  remainder  of  the  signature  and  the 
surrounding  writing.  It  is  also  too  angular  at  the  top 
and  too  set  and  stiff  throughout  to  be  the  result  of  a 
natural  sweep  of  a  trained  hand. 

The  Morey  letter  was  written  in  January,  1880,  and 
made  public  in  October  of  the  same  year.  If  Mr. 
Garfield  wrote  the  Morey  letter  in  January  there  was 
at  that  time  no  motive  to  write  it  in  any  other  than  his 
ordinary  and  natural  hand.  The  letter  of  denial  is  in 
his  perfectly  natural  hand;  these  two  letters  should 
therefore  be  consistent  with  each  other. 

The  signature  of  the  Morey  letter  is  a  clumsy  imita- 
tion of  General  Garfield's  autograph.  Observe  the 
stiff,  formal  initial  line  of  the  "J  " —  its  sharp,  angular 
turn  at  the  top,  absurd  slope  and  general  stiff  appear- 

248 


A  FAMOUS  FORGERY 

ance,  while  the  shade  is  low  down  upon  the  stem,  and 
compare  with  the  free,  flowing  movement,  round 
turns  and  consistent  slope  of  the  same  letter  in  his 
genuine  autograph.  We  might  extend  the  compari- 
son, with  like  result,  to  all  the  letters  in  the  signature, 
and  to  a  multitude  of  other  instances  in  the  writing  of 
the  body  of  the  letter. 

Many  persons,  and  some  professed  experts,  have 
remarked  what  appeared  to  them  striking  and  charac- 
teristic resemblances  between  the  Morey  letter  and 
General  Garfield's  writing. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  if  the  letter  is  not 
in  the  genuine  handwriting  of  Mr.  Garfield  it  was 
written  by  some  person  whose  purpose  was  to  have  it 
appear  so  to  be.  That  being  the  case,  we  should 
naturally  expect  to  find  some,  even  more,  forms  than 
we  do,  having  a  resemblance  to  those  used  by  Mr. 
Garfield.  All  these  resemblances  appear  to  be  either 
copied  or  coincidences  in  the  use  of  forms.  There  are 
no  coincidences  of  the  unconscious  writing  habit, 
which  clearly,  to  our  mind,  proves  the  Morey  letter, 
as  Mr.  Garfield  well  characterizes  it,  a  very  clumsy 
effort  to  imitate  his  writing.  Indeed,  the  effort  seems 
to  be  little  more  than  an  endeavor,  on  the  part  of  the 
writer,  to  disguise  his  own  hand,  and  copy  a  few  of  the 
general  features  of  Mr.  Garfield's  writing,  adding  a 
tolerable  imitation  of  his  autograph. 


249 


XXIII 

A  Warning  to  Banks  and  Business 
Houses 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
A  WARNING  TO  BANKS  AND   BUSINESS  HOUSES 

Information  for  Those  Who  Handle  Commercial  and  Legal  Docu- 
ments —  Peculiarity  of  Handwriting  —  Methods  Employed  in 
Forgery  —  Means  Employed  for  Erasing  Writing  —  Care  to 
be  Used  in  Writing  —  Specimens  of  Originals  and  Alterations 
—  Means  of  Discovering  and  Demonstrating  Forgery  —  Dis- 
puted Signatures  —  Free  Hand  or  Composite  Signatures  —  Im- 
portant Facts  for  the  Banking  and  Business  Public  —  How 
to  Use  the  Microscope  and  Photography  to  Detect  Forgery  — 
Applying  Chemical  Tests  —  How  to  Handle  Documents  and 
Papers  to  Be  Preserved  —  The  Value  of  Expert  Testimony  — 
Using  Chemical,  Mechanical  and  Clerical  Preventatives. 

The  following  chapter  is  written  by  Mr.  William  C.  Shaw,  of 
Chicago,  the  well-known  handwriting  expert  and  expert  on  forgery, 
whose  services  are  called  in  all  important  forgery  and  disputed 
handwriting  cases  in  the  country.  It  is  replete  with  facts  and  sug- 
gestions of  the  greatest  importance,  and  will  be  found  not  only 
interesting  reading,  but  an  instructive  article  throughout. 

The  comparative  frequency  with  which  checks, 
drafts,  notes,  etc.,  are  being  raised  or  altered,  as  well 
as  deeds,  wills,  etc.,  forged  and  substituted,  has  nat- 
urally created  a  widespread  interest  in  the  subject 
of  "disputed  handwriting."  The  importance  of 
practical  knowledge  in  this  direction  by  those  who 
are  continually  handling  commercial  papers  and 
legal  documents  is  at  once  apparent,  but  others  en- 
gaged in  any  business  pursuit  may  be  saved  consid- 
erable loss,  trouble  and  annoyance  by  observing  the 
principles  and  suggestions  explained  and  illustrated 
in  this  article. 

In  approaching  the  subject  of  detecting  forged  or 

253 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

fraudulent  handwriting  let  it  be  understood  as  a 
fundamental  principle  that  there  are  hardly  two 
persons  whose  writing  is  similar  enough  to  deceive 
a  careful  observer,  unless  the  one  is  imitating  the 
other.  Hands,  like  faces,  have  their  peculiar  fea- 
tures and  expression,  and  the  imitator  must  not 
alone  copy  the  original,  but  at  the  same  time  dis- 
guise his  own  writing.  Even  the  most  skilled  forger 
cannot  entirely  hide  his  individuality  and  is  bound 
to  relapse  into  his  habitual  ways  of  forming  and  con- 
necting letters,  words,  etc.  The  employment  of 
extreme  care  can  be  detected  by  signs  of  hesitancy, 
the  substitution  of  curves  for  angles,  etc.,  which  ap- 
pear very  plainly  when  the  writing  is  critically  exam- 
ined with  a  magnifying  glass.  When  a  signature  has 
been  forged  by  means  of  tracing  over  the  original, 
the  resemblance  is  often  so  exact  as  to  deceive  even 
the  supposed  author.  In  these  cases  the  microscope 
is  generally  effective  in  detecting  the  forgery,  as  well 
as  the  methods  employed.  Perfect  identity  of  two 
genuine  signatures  is  a  practical  impossibility;  if, 
therefore,  two  signatures  superposed  and  held  against 
the  light  completely  coincide  it  is  almost  certain  that 
one  of  them  is  a  forgery. 

The  methods  employed  in  executing  forged  hand- 
writing are  varied  and  depend  largely  on  the  individ- 
ual skill  and  inclination  of  the  party  attempting  it. 

The  most  frequent  class  of  forgeries  consists  of 
erasures,  which  means  the  removing  of  the  genuine 
writing  by  mechanical  or  chemical  means.  Erasing 
with  knife,  rubber,  etc.,  has  practically  been  aban- 
doned by  expert  forgers,  on  account  of  the  almost 
certain  detection  which  must  necessarily  follow  the 

254 


WARNING  TO  BANKS  AND  BUSINESS  HOUSES 

traces  left  in  evidence.  Erasing  fluids,  ink  eradica- 
tors,  etc.,  are  more  generally  used  for  this  purpose. 
These  have  entered  the  market  for  legitimate  pur- 
poses and  can  be  commercially  obtained.  Too  much 
confidence  should,  therefore,  not  be  placed  in  the  care- 

ORIGINAL.  ALTERATION. 


ful  writing  of  checks,  etc.,  alone,  as  with  the  aid  of 
chemicals  the  original  writing  can  be  entirely  removed 
and  forged  words  and  figures  substituted. 

Second  in  importance  and  frequency,  and  perhaps 
the  easiest  kind  of  forgery,  consists  of  simple  addi- 
tions to  genuine  handwriting.  In  checks  or  drafts 

255 


the  changing  of  "eight"  to  "eighty"  by  the  addi- 
tion of  a  single  letter  is  a  striking  illustration.  The 
change  of  "six"  to  "sixty,"  "twenty"  to  "seventy," 
etc.,  can  also  be  accomplished  by  adding  a  few 
strokes  and  without  erasure,  as  per  specimens  given. 

The  forging  of  signatures  and  writing  in  general  is 
accomplished  by  means  of  tracing  as  above  referred 
to,  free-hand  copying,  with  the  aid  of  considerable 
practice,  and  copying  by  mechanical  or  chemical 
processes.  It  is  not  intended  here  to  give  directions, 
but  simply  to  refer  to  facts,  with  a  view  to  prevent- 
ing losses  and  detecting  forgeries.  For  this  reason 
one  method  of  reproduction  may  briefly  be  described. 
The  carelessness  with  which  blotters  are  used  in  public 
places,  bank  counters,  post,  express  and  hotel  offices 
is  to  be  strongly  condemned.  The  entire  signature 
of  an  indorser  is  often  clearly  copied  on  the  underside 
of  the  blotting  paper,  which  only  needs  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  a  designing  party  to  be  projected  on  any 
paper  or  document  and  in  any  desired  position. 

The  means  of  discovering  and  demonstrating  forged 
handwriting  are  as  varied  as  the  methods  employed 
in  its  execution,  and  it  may  be  some  comfort  to  know 
that  the  cunning  of  the  forger  is  more  than  matched 
by  the  skill  and  ability  of  the  expert. 

The  ordinary  method  of  identifying  handwriting 
consists  in  the  "comparison  of  hands."  This,  how- 
ever, is  only  admitted  in  courts  of  justice  under  cer- 
tain limitations.  The  genuineness  of  a  disputed 
writing  can  be  proved  by  a  witness  who  has  seen  its 
execution,  or  by  comparison  with  correspondence 
received  in  the  regular  course  of  business,  or  by  com- 
parisons with  disputed  specimens  of  the  alleged  hand- 

256 


WARNING  TO  BANKS  AND  BUSINESS  HOUSES 

writing,  which  must  also  be  in  evidence.  Disputed 
signatures  may  be  compared  with  other  signatures 
acknowledged  to  be  genuine,  or  with  letters  or  docu- 
ments, the  genuineness  of  which  is  unquestioned. 
In  arriving  at  conclusions  many  things  are  to  be 
considered,  the  form  of  the  letters,  their  manner  of 
combination,  evidences  of  habit,  etc. 

Another  method  of  detecting  forgery  is  afforded  by 
the  internal  evidences  of  fraud  of  the  writing  itself, 
with  or  without  the  aid  of  comparison  with  genuine 
writing.  These  evidences  may  consist  of  alterations, 
erasures,  additions,  crowding,  etc.,  as  above  referred 
to ;  tracing  a  genuine  writing  by  means  of  ink  or  pen- 
cil, afterwards  retraced,  etc. 

The  copy  of  a  genuine  signature  may  be  free-hand 
or  composite,  by  which  is  meant  that  the  writing  is 
produced  discontinuously  or  in  parts.  Comparison 
of  the  separate  letters  of  a  doubtful  specimen  of 
writing  with  the  separate  letters  of  the  genuine  writing 
of  the  supposed  imitator  or  imitated  always  exhibits 
less  uniformity  if  imitation  has  been  attempted,  the 
copyist  being  frequently  led  into  an  approach  to  his 
ordinary  handwriting  or  into  an  oversight  of  some 
special  characteristics  of  the  writing  he  is  simulating. 
Even  minor  points  do  not  escape  the  expert's  critical 
attention.  The  dotting  of  the  i's,  or  crossing  of  the 
t's,  curls,  loops,  flourishes,  intervals  between  words 
and  letters,  connections,  characteristics  of  up  and 
down  strokes  are  all  carefully  noticed. 

A  glass  of  low  magnifying  power  will,  as  a  rule, 
exhibit  erasures,  and  even  bring  to  view  the  erased 
letters.  In  tracing,  the  forger  frequently  fails  to 
cover  over  the  first  outlines,  which  can  be  plainly  dis- 

257 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

tinguished.  The  places  where  the  pen  has  been  put 
upon  and  removed  from  the  paper  may  sometimes 
be  noticed,  which  is  in  itself  strong  evidence  of  fraud. 

With  the  aid  of  a  microscope  the  character  of  the 
alterations,  certain  characteristics  due  to  age,  emo- 
tion, etc.,  the  kind  of  pen  used  and  how  it  was  held, 
the  nature  of  ink,  order  of  writing,  with  regard  to 
time,  whether  produced  by  the  right  or  left  hand, 
standing  or  sitting,  can  often  be  determined.  In- 
dentations made  by  heavy  strokes  or  a  sharp  pen,  as 
well  as  those  employed  as  guides  for  the  signature 
subsequently  written,  will  also  be  brought  into  promi- 
nence. Forged  signatures  placed  under  the  micro- 
scope have  generally  a  patched  appearance,  which 
results  from  the  retracing  of  lines  in  certain  portions 
not  occurring  in  genuine  writing. 

In  case  of  disputed  handwriting  photography  has 
also  been  employed  to  great  advantage.  Of  course 
the  writing  in  question  should,  whenever  practicable, 
be  compared  with  the  original,  photographic  copies 
being  looked  upon  with  disfavor  and  considered  by 
most  courts  as  secondary  evidence.  Still,  photo- 
graphic enlargements  of  genuine  and  disputed  signa- 
tures are  very  useful  in  illustrating  expert  testimony. 
Certain  characteristics,  differences  in  ink,  attempts 
to  remove  writing,  etc.,  may  be  brought  to  view, 
which  would  be  entirely  overlooked  by  direct  examina- 
tion. The  wonderful  power  of  the  camera  has  re- 
cently been  illustrated  in  a  very  striking  manner.  A 
large  ocean  steamer  was  photographed,  and  on  receipt 
of  the  proof  the  owners  were  surprised  to  see  a  hand 
bill  posted  on  the  side  of  the  hull.  Examination  of 
the  ship  disclosed  no  hand  bill  there,  but  another 

258 


photograph  exhibited  the  same  result.  A  searching 
inspection  revealed  the  presence  of  the  mysterious 
paper  buried  beneath  four  coats  of  paint,  but  defying 
the  superficial  scrutiny  of  the  human  eye. 

As  a  last  resort  chemical  tests  may  be  applied,  by 
which  the  identity  or  difference  of  the  inks  used  may 
be  established,  etc.  As  a  means  of  demonstrating 
that  chemical  erasures  have  been  made  a  certain 
manipulation  and  treatment  of  the  paper  submitted 
will  almost  invariably  bring  back  the  original  and 
obliterated  writing. 

A  few  words  regarding  papers  and  documents,  in- 
tended for  preservation,  will  not  be  amiss.  Improved 
processes  of  manufacture  have  certainly  had 'no  benefi- 
cial influence  on  the  durability  of  the  products,  and 
while  inks  and  papers  have  become  greatly  reduced 
in  price  and  apparently  improved  in  quality,  it  is  very 
doubtful  if  much  of  our  book  learning  and  many  of 
our  written  instruments  will  go  down  to  future  gen- 
erations. Even  fifty  years  will  suffice  to  decompose 
many  an  attractive  volume  at  present  on  the  shelves 
of  our  libraries,  or  fade  the  writing  of  finely  engraved 
and  important  documents.  The  quality  of  the  ink 
and  paper  selected  is  therefore  of  greatest  importance. 
Typewritten  copies  particularly  are  subject  to  the 
ravages  of  time,  and  ought  to  be -avoided  when  preser- 
vation for  years  to  come  is  the  principal  consideration, 
as  for  instance  in  the  case  of  wills,  etc.,  which  ought 
to  be  made  in  one's  own  handwriting  whenever 
practicable. 

Briefly,  I  may  state  that  all  the  safeguards  em- 
ployed on  commercial  papers  or  legal  documents, 
outside  of  the  actual  protection  afforded,  have  the 

259 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

beneficial  effect  or  tendency  to  make  forgeries,  era- 
sures or  alterations  more  difficult,  at  the  same  time 
warning  prospective  forgers  to  keep  a  respectful 
distance. 

The  inks  used,  the  position  of  the  writing,  the  paper 
on  which  it  is  written,  the  employment  of  certain 
chemical,  mechanical  and  clerical  preventatives  are 
all  to  be  be  thoughtfully  considered  by  those  who 
desire  to  protect  themselves  against  losses  resulting 
from  fraudulent  handwriting. 

With  regard  to  expert  testimony  it  may  be  said 
in  conclusion  that  it  is  most  effective  if  governed  solely 
by  the  evidence  submitted,  and  not  by  information 
otherwise  obtained.  The  microscopic  and  photo- 
graphic examination  of  papers  and  documents,  as 
well  as  their  mechanical  and  chemical  treatment, 
require  in  all  cases  the  trained  eye,  the  skilled  hand 
and  the  extensive  experience  of  the  expert,  in  order 
to  fully  utilize  the  available  material  and  to  arrive  at 
conclusions  which  are  in  entire  accord  with  the  facts 
under  consideration,  thereby  aiding  in  the  just  and 
equitable  settlement  of  weighty  questions  of  profit 
or  loss,  affluence  or  poverty,  liberty  or  imprisonment, 
life  or  death. 

Another  expert  in  handwriting  says  that  regarding 
the  methods  made  use  of  to  determine  authorship, 
specialists  are  naturally  reticent.  Some  of  them 
have  admitted,  however,  the  nature  of  the  leading 
principles  which  guide  them.  The  philosophy  of 
the  matter  rests  mainly  on  the  fact  that  it  is  very  rare 
for  any  two  persons  to  write  hands  similar  enough 
to  deceive  a  careful  observer,  unless  one  is  imitating 
the  other.  "Fists,"  like  faces,  have  all  some  special 

260 


WARNING  TO  BANKS  AND  BUSINESS  HOUSES 

idiosyncrasy,  and  the  imitator  has  not  merely  to  copy 
that  of  some  one  else  but  to  disguise  his  own. 

By  careful  and  frequent  practice  he  may  succeed 
well  enough  to  deceive  the  ordinary  man,  but  is  rarely 
successful  in  baffling  the  expert.  Even  the  most 
skilful  culprit  cannot  wholly  hide  his  individuality, 
as  he  is  sure  to  relapse  into  his  ordinary  method  occa- 
sionally. Then  again,  great  care  has  to  be  used,  and 
this  can  be  detected  by  the  traces  of  hesitancy,  the 
substitution  of  curves  for  angles  and  vice  versa,  which 
come  out  very  plainly  when  the  writing  is  examined 
under  the  microscope,  as  it  usually  is  by  the  expert. 

A  plan  of  detection  which  has  been  adopted  with 
great  success  is  to  cut  out  each  letter  in  a  doubtful 
piece  of  writing,  and  paste  all  the  A's,  B's,  etc.,  on 
separate  sheets  of  paper.  The  process  is  also  gone 
through  with  a  genuine  bit  of  caligraphy  of  the  imi- 
tator or  the  imitated,  as  the  case  may  be.  Compari- 
son almost  invariably  shows  that  the  letters  are  less 
uniform  if  imitation  has  been  attempted,  the  writer 
being  occasionally  betrayed  into  some  approach  to 
his  ordinary  caligraphy,  or  into  momentary  forget- 
fulness  of  some  special  point  in  the  handwriting  he 
is  simulating. 

No  point  is  too  small  to  escape  an  expert's  atten- 
tion. The  dotting  of  the  "i's,"  the  crossing  of  "t's," 
the  curls  and  flourishes,  the  intervals  between  the 
words,  the  thinness  of  the  up-stroke  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  down-stroke,  are  all  noted  and  carefully 
compared.  Where  only  a  signature  has  been  forged, 
and  that  by  means  of  tracings  from  the  original  the 
resemblance  is  often  so  exact  as  to  deceive  even  the 
supposed  author,  but  in  these  cases  the  microscope 

261 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

is  generally  effective  in  determining  not  merely  the 
forgery  but  the  method  by  which  it  was  accomplished. 
It  is  some  comfort  to  know  that  the  cunning  of  the 
forger  is  overmatched  by  the  scientific  skill  of  the 
trained  expert. 


262 


XXIV 

How  Forgers  Alter  Bank  Notes 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
HOW    FORGERS   ALTER   BANK   NOTES 

Bankers  Easily  Deceived  —  How  Ten  One  Hundred-Dollar  Bills 
Are  Made  out  of  Nine  —  How  to  Detect  Altered  Bank  Notes  — 
Making  a  Ten-Dollar  Bill  out  of  a  Five  —  A  Ten  Raised  to 
Fifty  —  How  Two-Dollar  Bills  are  Raised  to  a  Higher  Denomi- 
nation —  Bogus  Money  in  Commercial  Colleges  —  Action  of  the 
United  States  Treasury  Department  —  Engraving  a  Greenback 
—  How  They  Are  Printed  —  Making  a  Vignette  —  Beyond  the 
Reach  of  Rascals  —  How  Bank  Notes  Are  Printed,  Signed  and 
Issued  by  the  Government  —  Safeguards  to  Foil  Forgers, 
Counterfeiters  and  Alterers  of  Bank  Notes  —  Devices  to  Raise 
Genuine  Bank  Notes  —  Split  Notes  —  Altering  Silver  Certifi- 
cates. 

A  dangerous  game  and  one  too  often  successfully 
perpetrated,  is  the  raising  of  bank  bills  from  a  lower 
to  a  higher  denomination.  Counterfeiters  and  forgers 
have  often  been  detected  making  ten  bills  of  nine  by 
the  following  operation : 

A  counterfeit  one  hundred-dollar  bank  note  is  cut 
into  ten  pieces;  one  of  these  pieces  is  pasted  into  a 
genuine  bill,  cutting  out  a  piece  of  the  genuine  of  the 
same  size.  In  pasting  nine  genuine  bills  in  this  manner 
nine  pieces  are  obtained,  which,  with  one  piece  of  coun- 
terfeit, will  make  a  tenth  bill,  which  is  the  profit. 
This  operation  is  not  a  very  successful  one,  as  the  differ- 
ence between  the  counterfeit  and  the  genuine  will  be 
very  evident  to  any  one  who  examines  closely. 

Every  business  man  should  know  how  to  detect 
altered  bank  bills,  and  a  close  scrutiny  of  all  money 
offered,  bearing  in  mind  the  suggestions  here  made, 

265 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

will  prove  a  safeguard.  Bank  notes  are  sometimes 
altered  by  raising  from  lower  to  higher  denominations, 
or  replacing  name  of  broken  bank  by  name  of  good 
one.  This  is  done  either  by  erasing  words  and  printing 
others  in  their  place,  or  by  pasting  on  the  original  bill 
a  piece  of  counterfeit  work  or  a  piece  taken  from  some 
genuine  bill.  If  the  former,  the  new  counterfeit 
piece  will  always  differ  from  the  surrounding  genuine 
work.  If  the  latter,  the  fraud  will  be  revealed  by 
holding  the  bill  up  to  the  light,  when  the  portion 
pasted  will  look  darker  than  the  surrounding  portions. 

Another  method  employed  is  to  cut  ten-dollar  bills 
in  halves,  also  five-dollar  bills,  then  join  them,  and 
raise  the  five  part  to  a  ten  by  the  blue  paper  dodge. 
This  bill  can  be  successfully  worked  off  in  a  roll  of 
other  bills,  owing  to  the  workmanship,  and  sometimes 
a  gang  will  visit  a  certain  locality  and  flood  it  with 
doctored  bills.  Fifty-dollar  bills  have  been  often 
raised  from  a  ten.  This  fraud  is  generally  neatly 
executed,  and  is  well  calculated  to  deceive  the  unsus- 
pecting, and  a  banker,  in  hurriedly  counting  money, 
is  liable  to  be  taken  in  on  one  of  these. 

A  recent  scheme  to  defraud  with  raised  bills  is  to 
raise  a  two-dollar  bill  to  a  five.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this  feat  rascals  cut  out  the  figure  five  in  the  left-hand 
corner  of  a  "V"  and  paste  it  over  the  figure  "2"  in 
the  upper  right-hand  corner  of  the  two-dollar  bill. 
The  pasting  is  done  so  neatly  that  not  one  person  in  a 
hundred,  or  even  a  thousand,  unless  an  expert,  would 
notice  the  difference.  The  very  small  $2  marks  in  the 
scroll-work  surrounding  the  large  figure  are  blotted 
out  with  a  pencil  and  are  not  visible.  The  figure  "  2  " 
in  the  lower  right-hand  corner  is  erased  with  acids,  and 

266 


HOW  FORGERS  ALTER  BANK  NOTES 

the  bill  is  in  all  respects  a  first-class  imitation  of  the 
genuine  article.  Treasury  officials  say  that  this  is 
something  new  in  the  way  of  bill-raising,  and  is  very 
dangerous. 

Many  people  who  are  not  used  to  handling  money 
have  been  swindled  by  what  is  known  as  "Imitation 
Money."  The  United  States  Treasury  Department  is 
making  strenuous  efforts  to  break  up  the  practice  of 
issuing  imitations  of  the  national  currency,  to  which 
many  commercial  colleges  and  business  firms  are 
addicted.  This  bogus  currency  has  been  extensively 
used  by  sharpers  all  over  the  country  to  swindle 
ignorant  people  and  its  manufacture  is  in  violation  of 
law. 

So  vague  is  the  general  idea  as  to  how  a  bank  note  is 
made  that  we  give  an  explanation  of  the  various 
processes  it  goes  through  before  it  is  issued  as  a  part  of 
the  "money  of  the  realm,"  saying,  by  way  of  intro- 
duction, that  this  country  leads  the  world  in  bank-note 
engraving.  Unfortunately,  the  first  consideration  in 
making  a  bank-note  is  to  prevent  bad  men  from 
making  a  counterfeit  of  it,  and  therefore  all  the  notes 
of  a  certain  denomination  or  value  must  be  exact 
duplicates  of  each  other.  If  they  were  engraved  by 
hand  this  would  not  be  the  case;  and,  another  thing, 
hand  engraving  is  more  easily  counterfeited  than  the 
work  done  by  the  processes  we  herewith  describe. 

Every  note  is  printed  from  a  steel  plate,  in  the 
preparation  of  which  many  persons  take  part.  If 
you  will  look  at  a  $5  "  greenback  "  you  will  see  a  picture 
in  the  center;  a  small  portrait,  called  a  vignette,  on 
the  left,  and  in  each  of  the  upper  corners  a  network  of 
fine  lines  with  a  dark  ground,  one  of  them  containing 

267 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

the  letter  "V"  and  the  other  the  figure  "5."  These 
four  parts  are  made  on  separate  plates. 

To  make  a  vignette  it  is  necessary,  first,  to  make  a 
large  drawing  on  paper  with  great  care,  and  a  daguer- 
reotype is  then  taken  of  the  drawing  the  exact  size  of 
the  engraving  desired. 

The  daguerreotype  is  then  given  to  the  engraver, 
who  uses  a  steel  point  to  mark  on  it  all  the  outlines  of 
the  picture.  The  plate  is  inked  and  a  print  taken  from 
it.  While  the  ink  is  still  damp  the  print  is  laid  face 
down  on  a  steel  plate,  which  has  been  softened  by 
heating  it  red  hot  and  letting  it  cool  slowly.  It  is 
then  put  in  a  press  and  an  exact  copy  of  the  outline  is 
thus  made  on  the  steel  plate.  This  the  engraver 
finishes  with  his  graver,  a  tool  with  a  three-cornered 
point,  which  cuts  a  clean  line  without  leaving  a  rough 
edge. 

Now  this  is  used  for  making  other  plates  —  it  is 
never  used  to  print  from.  It  must  be  made  hard  and 
this  is  done  by  heating  it  and  cooling  it  quickly.  A 
little  roller  of  softened  steel  is  then  rolled  over  it  by  a 
powerful  machine  until  its  surface  has  been  forced  into 
all  the  lines  cut  into  the  plate.  The  outlines  of  the 
vignette  are  thus  transferred  to  the  roller  in  raised 
lines,  and  after  the  roller  is  hardened  it  is  used  to  roll 
over  plates  of  softened  steel,  and  thus  make  in  them 
sunken  lines  exactly  like  those  in  the  plate  originally 
engraved.  The  center  picture  is  engraved  and  trans- 
ferred to  a  roller  like  the  vignette,  but  the  network  in 
the  upper  corners,  and  also  on  the  back  of  the  note,  is 
made  by  the  lathe.  This  machine  costs  $5,000,  a  price 
that  puts  it  beyond  the  reach  of  counterfeiters,  and  its 
work  is  so  perfect  that  it  can  not  be  imitated  by  hand. 

268 


HOW  FORGERS  ALTER  BANK  NOTES 

The  black  parts  of  the  note  are  printed  first,  and 
when  the  ink  is  dry  the  green-black  is  printed,  to  be 
followed  by  the  red  stamps  and  numbers.  It  is  then 
signed  and  issued.  For  greater  security  one  part  of 
the  note  is  engraved  and  printed  at  one  place  and  an- 
other part  at  another  place,  when  it  is  sent  to  Wash- 
ington to  be  finished  and  signed. 

But  even  after  all  this  care  and  all  these  safeguards 
many  skillfully  executed  counterfeits  and  raised  and 
altered  bank  notes  have  been  made  and  issued,  some  of 
them  so  good  as  to  deceive  the  most  expert  judges  of 
money. 

Many  devices  have  been  resorted  to  by  counterfeiters 
to  raise  genuine  bank-notes,  as  well  as  to  manufacture 
bogus  ones,  but  one  of  the  most  novel  has  recently 
come  to  light.  The  scheme  consists  of  splitting  a  $5 
and  a  $i  note,  and  then  pasting  the  back  of  the  $i 
note  to  the  front  of  the  $5  note  and  the  front  of  the 
$i  note  to  the  back  of  the  $5  note.  The  mechanical 
part  of  the  work  was  excellently  done,  but  the  fraud 
could  be  detected  the  moment  the  note  was  turned 
over. 

An  effort  had  been  made  to  change  the  "one"  to 
"five"  on  the  "one"  side  of  the  new  combined  note, 
but  it  was  done  so  clumsily  that  the  fraud  would 
have  been  seen  at  a  glance,  and  the  only  hope  of 
passing  the  notes  as  fives  would  have  been  to  pass 
them  over  with  the  $5  side  up  and  trust  to  the  man 
receiving  it  not  to  turn  it  over  before  putting  it  away. 
The  doctored  notes  came  to  the  notice  of  the  writer 
through  one  of  the  Chicago  banks,  with  the  request 
that  they  be  allowed  whatever  they  were  worth.  The 
government  always  redeems  notes  at  the  face  value,  and 

269 


DISPUTED  HANDWRITING 

as  the  faces  in  this  case  were  of  a  $i  and  a  $5  note,  $6 
was  allowed.  It  is  not  known  whether  the  bank  was 
caught  on  the  split  notes  or  not. 

Another  scheme  for  altering  bank-notes  is  practiced 
with  more  or  less  success.  It  is  to  take  a  one  dollar 
silver  certificate  and  by  means  of  powerful  acids  and 
fine  penwork  the  large  figure  "one"  on  the  reverse 
side  is  split  into  two  "tens,"  and  the  intermediate 
portion  transformed  into  a  scroll.  On  the  other  side 
the  "one"  over  the  representation  of  the  silver  dollar 
is  obliterated  and  "ten"  substituted,  but  the  "s"  is 
left  off  the  dollar.  The  single  "  i "  figures  in  the 
corners  are  neatly  eaten  off  and  the  figure  "  10"  sub- 
stituted. The  small  "one"  is  changed  to  an  "X"  and 
a  new  series  number  is  printed  in  red  upon  the  face. 
The  bill  would  pass  anywhere.  None  but  an  expert 
would  detect  the  fraud. 


270 


Appendix 


APPENDIX 


INTERESTING  WRITINGS   OF  VARIOUS   KINDS 
FOR  STUDY   AND   COMPARISON 

FOUR  ORDINARY   SIGNATURES  WITH  DESCRIPTIONS 

A  mechanical  or  arti- 
ficial hand  in  copy-book 
style,  lightly  and  deli- 
cately traced. 

Characteristic  signature, 
connected  and  rapidly 
traced  letters  expressing 
great  animation  and  men- 
tal activity. 

A  natural  hand,  letters 
vary  in  size,  written  with 
great  spontaneity  and  ex- 
pression. 

A  restrained  hand,  letters  slow- 
ly and  deliberately  traced,  indi- 
cating a  slow  intelligence  and 
perception. 


xi</£*^e/3^t*/-tx^* 


STUDENTS'  HANDWRITING 


<*r~ 

CRIMINALS'  HANDWRITING 


The  above  is  a  comparison  of  the  students'  and  criminals'  hand- 
writing, the  selections  being  made  from  the  records  of  each  class. 

273 


APPENDIX 


The  tremor  of  feebleness  is  shown  in  this  signature.  This  was 
written  by  a  gentleman  ninety-two  years  of  age.  Writing  of  one 
who  is  ill  or  feeble  is  usually  characterized  by  a  light  stroke.  The 
simulated  tremor  of  a  skilful  penman  is  rarely  successful  in  deceiv- 
ing a  trained  eye. 

This  signature  represents 
the  tremor  due  to  illiteracy. 
The  tremors  and  angular  fea- 
tures shown  are  by  no  means  indicative  of  lack  of  power,  but  the 
power  is  misdirected. 


The  signature  of  Ivan  Wilson,  herewith  given,  will  serve  as  an 
illustration  of  the  tremor  almost  inseparable  from  forgery.  The 
tremors  of  a  simulating  hand  are  never  so  numerous  nor  so  fine  as 
real  tremors. 


GENUINE 


FORGED  TRACING 


The  first  signature 
is  the  original.  The 
second  is  a  bungling 
traced  forgery  and  the 
third  is  a  forged  free- 
hand. Taken  apart 
from  one  another  they 
are  clever  enough  to 
deceive,  but  studied 
together  here  the 
fraud  and  deception 
is  readily  apparent. 


(/  274 


APPENDIX 
ORIGINAL  SIZE. 


FQfiQED    TRACING, 


FOR&EO 


HAND. 


We  give  above  a  genuine  signature  with  a  forged  tracing  and  a 
forged  free-hand.  You  can  readily  detect  the  forgeries  when 
these  signatures  are  placed  together  and  explained.  It  gives  one 
points  on  how  to  study  forged  and  disputed  signatures. 


SOME  THUMB  AND  FINGER-PRINT  SUGGESTIONS 


We  show  herewith  two  enlarged  finger-prints.  These  are  taken 
from  the  index  finger  and  are  used  in  many  cases  instead  of  thumb- 
prints. 

275 


APPENDIX 


The  above  illustrations  are  fac-simile  impressions  of  the  dermal 
furrows  of  the  right  and  left  thumbs  of  four  different  persons. 
The  left  thumbs  are  in  the  top  row,  the  right  thumb  being  below. 
These  are  enlarged  to  bring  out  the  distinctive  points.  You  will 
note  that  no  two  are  alike  and  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  forge 
or  duplicate  the  thumb-print  of  any  person.  "Thumb-prints 
Never  Forged"  on  page  115. 


Promiscuous  thumb-prints  taken  at  random,  easily  distinguish- 
able in  the  original  impression  but  not  enlarged  as  in  above  illus- 
tration. A  photographic  reproduction  showing  the  lines  with- 
out enlargement  almost  impossible. 

276 


APPENDIX 

INTERESTING  AUTOGRAPH  SIGNATURES 


Kaiser's  signature  published  in  book  sanctioned  by  him. 
is  the  writing  of  an  extremely  erratic  and  nervous  man. 


This 


This  is  a  facsimile  of  Capt.  Myles  Standish's  handwriting  found 
on  the  fly-leaf  of  one  of  his  books.  Capt.  Myles  Standish,  known 
as  the  human  sword  blade,  whose  valor  saved  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth  from  utter  destruction  at  the  hands  of  hostile  Indians 
went  back  to  England  in  1625  on  business  for  the  colony.  Before 
his  return,  in  1626,  he  bought  this  book  and  carried  it  back  to 
America  with  him. 


In  this  signature  of  the  great  Liberator  of  Italy,  we  have  indi- 
cations of  energy  in  the  angular  form  of  the  letters,  and  in  the  hasty 
and  irregular  dot  to  the  small  letter  "i,"  and  originality  in  the 
curious  angularly  waved  line  below  the  signature.  It  denotes 
tenacity  of  purpose. 

277 


APPENDIX 


In  this  signature  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  which  appears  on  a 
letter  written  by  him  when  only  a  captain  in  the  French  army, 
we  have  the  "vaulting  ambition"  which  made  him  all  but  master 
of  Europe.  There  is  the  dominant  will  in  the  strongly  marked 
"t,"  and  in  the  hard,  thick  line  which  terminates  the  flourish; 
his  egotism  and  self-assertion  are  evidenced  in  this  flourish,  his 
originality  in  the  peculiar  form  of  the  capital  letter  "B;"  but  am- 
bition is  here  "still  the  lord  of  all." 


••  HI.BV  i  LA*I  unrrn. 


This  was  the  last  letter  ever  written  by  Horace  Greeley,  Ameri- 
ca's famous  editor  and  horrible  penman. 

278 


APPENDIX 


^ 


The  signatures  of.  this  group  are  by  well-known  men,  all  leaders 
in  a  special  line  of  activity.  These  autographs  are  original  and 
typical  of  the  men  writing  them.  The  general  character,  tem- 
perament and  make-up  of.  these  gentlemen  are  well-known  to  all, 
and  a  study  oi  these  signatures  will  be  found  interesting. 


Reduced  copy  of  the  signatures  and  seals  of  the  English  and 
American  commissioners  who  signed  the  treaty  of  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  1783. 

279 


APPENDIX 


CHARACTERISTIC    WRITING    OF    SOME    OF    THE    BEST 

KNOWN   MEN   IN  THE   BANKING  WORLD  OF 

THE  UNITED  STATES 


President  American  Bankers'  Association  and  President  of  the 
Continental  National  Bank,  Chicago. 


s^*{Asj£fi 

Mr.  Vanderlip,  President  of  the  National  City  Bank,  New  York. 


Lewis  E.  Pierson,  First  Vice-president  American  Bankers'  Asso- 
ciation and  President  Irving  National  Exchange  Bank.  New  York 
City. 


F.  O.  Watts,  Chairman  Executive  Council  American  Bankers' 
Association  and  President  First  National  Bank,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

280 


APPENDIX 


Treasurer  American  Bankers'  Association  and  Second  Vice-presi- 
dent Fidelity  Trust  Co.,  Tacoma,  Wash. 


<=?* 


Fred.  E.  Farnsworth,  Secretary  American  Bankers'  Association, 
New  York. 


W.  G.  Fitzwilson,  Assistant  Secretary  American  Bankers'  Asso- 
ciation, New  York  City. 


Assistant  Cashier  of  the  National  City  Bank,  Chicago,  and  for- 
merly President  of  the  American  Institute  of  Banking. 

281 


APPENDIX 


This  gentleman  is  one  of  the  best-known  bankers  in^America. 
He  has  also  been  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 


A  rather  complicated,  though  not  altogether  unreadable  signa- 
ture of  John  K.  Ottley,  vice-president  of  the  Fourth  National 
Bank,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


C/ 


J.  Furth,  President  of  the  Puget  Sound  National  Bank,  Seattle, 
Wash. 

282 


Wlffh  my 


There  is  no  better  known  gentleman  in  the  country  than  John 
Parson,  the  millionaire  banker  of  Chicago.  He  dresses  attract- 
ively, loves  legitimate  notoriety,  is  absolutely  democratic  in  his 
daily  life,  is  charitable  and  pleasant  and  believes  in  making  every- 
body happy,  and  is  a  great  lover  of  flowers  and  children.  His 
signature  indicates  his  character  thoroughly. 


& 


/ 

This  is    a  fair  specimen  of  the  writing  of  a  Japanese  banker  and 
business  man.     This  was  written  with  great  haste,  also. 


CURIOUS  AND  FREAKISH  SIGNATURES  OF  WELL-KNOWN  BANKERS  AND 

BUSINESS"MEN 


Banker  Wm.  W.  Quigg  thinks  this  is  a  pretty  good  signature. 
He  is  a  banker  at  Ontario,  Calif. 

283 


APPENDIX 


A  Michigan  bank  cashier,  E.  Newell,  writes  this  signature. 


This  is  the  signature  of  Common  Parse. 


This  is  the  way  H.  G.  Nolton  writes  his  name. 


This  was  the  original  freak  signature  of  the  country.     It  will  be 
recognized  by  every  one  as  F.  E.  Spinner. 

284 


APPENDIX 


F.  S.  Watts,  teller  in  an  Iowa  bank,  is  not  afraid  to  use  ink. 
He  says  this  signature  has  never  been  counterfeited. 


This  stands  for  Lloyd  Bowers,  a  well-known  Kansas  banker. 


^z^ 

I  rsZ&^t^?^,^ * 


/ 

R.  J.  B.  Crombie,  a  Canadian  banker,  has  a  signature  that  is 
certainly  freakish. 

285 


APPENDIX 


Tom  Randolph,  president  of  a  Sherman,  Texas,  National  Bank, 
thinks  he  is  a  good  writer. 


W.  D.  Mussenden,  an  eastern  banker,  thinks  any  man  ought  to 
readily  read  his  writing. 


C.  W.  Bush,  president  of  the  Bank 
of  Yolo,  Woodland,  California,  makes 
these  marks  and  they  are  good  on 
any  check. 


286 


APPENDIX 


W.  O.  Cline,  editor  and  publisher  of  a  Chicago  paper.     This  is 
one  of  the  most  unique  signatures  in  the  United  States. 


A.  B.  Ming  might  write  worse  but  it  is  doubtful. 


W.  P.  Hazen,  a  Kansas  banker,  has  written  this  signature  so 
many  years  he  thinks  it  ought  to  be  legible  to  any  one. 


This  is  the  very  complicated  signature  of  Hugh  Harbinson,  a 
well-known  Connecticut  business  man. 

287 


APPENDIX 


John  Mohr,  Jr.,  thinks 
this  is  a  plain  signature. 


Jas.  V.  D.  Westfall,  formerly  a  well-known  New  York  State 
banker. 


F.  C.  Miller,  Kansas  banker,  wants 
this  to  pass  current  as  his  name. 


288 


APPENDIX 


Louis  Houck,  historian,  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo. 


Tarns  Bixby,  General  Manager  The  Pioneer  Press,   St.   Paul, 
Minnesota.     This  is  certainly  a  unique  signature. 


J.  W.  Dunegan,  Cashier  First  National  Bank,  Marquette,  Mich. 


This  is  known  as  the  "Turn  Around"  signature.  This  was 
furnished  us  by  the  president  of  one  of  the  largest  banks  in  New 
York  City.  It  is  one  of  the  most  curious  of  signatures.  Turn  it 
around.  It  reads  the  same  both  ways. 


P.  B.  Elder,  formerly  a  Pennsylvania  bank  president,  known  as 
the  "upside  down' '  writer.     Turn  it  around. 

289 


APPENDIX  - 


John  R.  Dixon,  a  well-known  Chicago  business  man. 


Peter  White,  President  First  National  Bank,  Marquette,  Mich. 

HOW  SOME   CELEBRATED  WOMEN  WRITE 


^^ 


In  this  signature  of  the  "divine  Sarah,"  the  flourish  peculiar  to 
most  actresses,  which  indicates  love  of  admiration,  is  very  remark- 
able. We  have  also,  in  the  return  of  the  curve  of  the  letter  "S  " 
the  sign  typical  of  egotism;  in  the  peculiar  form  of  the  letter  "B," 
we  have  originality;  in  the  heavy  down  strokes  we  have  sensuous- 
ness;  and  in  the  angular  forms  of  all  the  letters,  strong  will. 


Who  has  not  heard  of  that  eccentric  woman  in  man's  garb,  Dr. 
Mary  E.  Walker.  She  is  egotistical,  seeks  after  notoriety,  and  her 
signature  is  a  correct  portrayal  of  a  petulant  and  whimsical  nature. 

290 


APPENDIX 


This  signature  of  Marie  Antoinette  was  taken  from  a  letter 
written  while  she  was  in  prison  under  sentence  of  death.  This 
is  a  despondent  signature.  Misfortune,  separation  from  her  hus- 
band and  children,  and  humiliation  had  crushed  her  pride,  and 
the  whole  of  this  signature  is  descendant,  the  four  last  letters  re- 
markably so,  which  indicates  a  thoroughly  despondent  condition. 


THREE  OF  AMERICA'S  BEST-KNOWN"  MEN 


Melville  W.  Fuller,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  of  the 
United  States. 


P.  S.  Grosscup,  Chicago,  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States. 


John  Hay,  formerly  Secretary  of  State,  is  a  versatile  man. 
The  most  remarkable  point  in  this  autograph  is  its  extreme  clear- 
ness, indicative  of  lucidity  of  ideas.  Cultivation  is  shown  in  the 
form  of  the  capital  letters  in  both  Christian  and  surname.  No 
obstinacy  is  shown  in  this  nature,  only  sufficient  firmness  to  hold 
his  own  when  necessary,  the  signature  showing  also  a  strong  literary 
leaning. 

291 


We  present  a  group  of  signatures  of  famous  military  men. 
The  autograph  of  General  Grant  is  plain  and  simple  in  its  con- 
struction, not  an  unnecessary  movement  or  mark  in  it  —  a  sig- 
nature as  bare  of  superfluity  and  ostentation  as  was  the  silent 
soldier  and  hero  of  Appomattox.  In  the  autograph  of  R.  E.  Lee 
we  have  the  same  terse,  brief  manner  of  construction  as  in  Grant's. 
It  is  more  antiquated  and  formal  in  its  style,  more  stiff  and 
what  might  be  called  aristocratic.  Its  firm  upright  strokes,  with 
angular  horizontal  terminal  lines,  indicate  a  determined,  positive 
character.  In  somewhat  marked  contrast  with  the  two  last- 
mentioned  autographs  is  that  of  General  Beauregard,  in  that 
he  indulges  in  a  rather  elaborate  flourish,  which  is  a  national 
characteristic. 


CHARACTERISTIC  WRITING   OF   A    FEW  OF   THE  WORLD  S  BEST-KNOWN 
LITERARY    MEN   AND   AUTHORS 


Shakespeare's  writing  shows  a  strong,  intuitive  observation 
—  that  quick  movement  of  the  mind  which  seizes  character  at  a 
glance  —  is  shown  by  the  want  of  liason  between  the  curiously 
formed  letter  "h"  and  the  "a"  which  follows  it.  With  a  poet's 
disregard  of  order,  Shakespeare  puts  no  dots  to  either  of  the  small 
letters  "i"  in  his  Christian  name,  nor  is  there  any  full  stop  at  the 
end  of  the  signature,  so  suggestive,  when  seen  in  an  autograph,  of 
caution,  and  that  attention  to  minutiae  which  seems  almost  incom- 
patible with  the  poetic  nature.  No  flourish  of  any  kind  disgraces 
this  thoroughly  characteristic  signature  of  England's  greatest  poet. 

292 


APPENDIX 


His  popularity  and  fame  as  a  novelist  may  be  attributed  to  the 
fascinating  style  and  vivid  portrayal  of  his  imaginative  rather  than 
realistic  creations.  The  flourish  after  the  signature  has  its  sig- 
nificance also.  It  is  lacking  in  grace  or  harmony,  and  evidently 
the  quick,  assertive  stroke  from  the  pen  of  one  who  will  brook  no 
opposition. 


In  this  signature  of  Longfellow  we  have  imagination  in  the  letter 
"L"  in  the  signature  of  the  surname,  lucidity  of  ideas  in  the  ex- 
treme clearness  of  the  writing,  ideality  in  the  absence  of  liason 
between  the  "!'  '  and  "o,"  but  not  as  much  tenderness  as  one  would 
have  expected  in  the  writing  of  the  author  of  "Evangeline." 


Edgar  Allen  Poe  was  an  egotistical  and  imaginative  writer. 
When  the  flourish  takes  any  very  peculiar  abnormal  form,  it  is 
rather  a  sign  of  originality  than  vanity,  though  there  is  perhaps 
always  a  slight  admixture  of  egotistical  feeling  in  all  flourishes. 


Who  has  not  heard  of  Emile 
Zola?  This  signature  has  the 
lightning  flourishes  in  the  "Z" 
and  "  a,"  and  the  entire  sep- 
aration of  letters  indicate  an 
almost  wholly  intuitive  mind, 
but  lacking  in  logic,  reason 
and  judgment. 


APPENDIX 


AUTOGRAPHS  OF    SOME   WELL-KNOWN  "MEN.      THEIR    WRITING    IS    AS 
DIFFERENT  AS    THEIR   CHARACTERS. 


Uncle  Joe  Cannon,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
has  a  careless  and  rapid  signature  which  indicates  a  determined  and 
arbitrary  will. 


Cecil  T.  Rhodes,  the  wealthy  South  Africa  diamond  king,  has  a 
signature  denoting  secrecy  and  thrift  The  curve  of  the  "C"  and 
"T"  denoting  love  of  publicity.  His  wonderful  endowments 
gave  him  fame  and  publicity. 


Signature  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  the  founder  of  that  well-known 
family. 


Ingersoll's  signature  is  that  of  a  combative  man.  This  is  told 
by  a  certain  irregularity  in  writing  and  at  the  same  time  all  the 
signs  of  ardent  courage. 

294 


APPENDIX 


Admiral  George  Dewey.  Extreme  straightforwardness  is  in- 
dicated in  this  signature;  the  letters  are  all  one  height  and  the 
line  of  writing  is  straight.  It  denotes  precision,  discipline  and 
loyalty. 


An  enlarged  signature  of  one  of  the  most  successful  merchants 
in  the  country.  This  signature  shows  intuitive  perception  of 
character  and  the  heavy  characters  denote  precision,  organization, 
and  care  for  details. 


The  signature  of  H.  N.  Higinbotham,  a  former  partner  of  Mar- 
shall Field,  and  an  immensely  busy  man.  It  shows  that  an  active 
business  man  can  write  a  legible  hand  if  he  will. 


This  signature  is  that  of  one  of  America's  greatest  merchants 
and  financiers.  He  is  as  careful  in  writing  as  in  business  and  gives 
the  greatest  care  to  all  details.  Philanthrophy  is  also  shown  in 
his  hand. 

295 


APPENDIX 


This  is  the  inventor  of  the  telephone,  and  one  of  the  most  famous 
characters  of  the  country.  This  is  a  most  pronounced  signature 
indicating  inventive  genius  and  charity,  with  strong  literary  pro- 
clivities. 


Joseph  Zeisler,  one  of  the  best  known  physicians  in  the  country. 
This  writing,  while  difficult  to  read,  indicates  a  nervous  body  and 
active  brain. 


Thomas  A.  Edison,  the  famous  inventor. 


One  of  the  richest  men  in  America  and  a  well-known  philan- 
thropist. 

296 


APPENDIX 


This  signature  evidences  calm  and  clear  judgment;  the  open 
"o's,"  fluency  of  speech;  and  the  simply  formed  capitals,  the 
modest,  unpretentious  nature. 


The  writing  of  one  of  the  most  famous  characters  in  American 
politics.  His  writing  indicates  firmness,  love  of  notoriety  and  also 
a  semblance  of  weakness. 


The  signature  of  Emil  G.  Hirsch,  Rabbi  of  Sinai  Congregation, 
Chicago,  one  of  America's  best-known  and  most-respected  Jewish 
citizens. 


297 


APPENDIX 


"Oom  Paul"  Kruger,  formerly  president  of  the  Transvaal 
Republic.  This  is  the  signature  of  a  man  that  believed  the  world 
was  flat.  He  was  "sot"  in  his  ways  —  stubborn,  obstinate,  un- 
movable.  His  rugged  character  was  never  brought  within  the 
restraints  of  conventionality,  and  neither,  apparently,  was  his 
handwriting. 


One  of  America's  best-known  educators. 


Arthur  N.  McGeoch,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  a  well-known  attorney. 


Geo.  E.  Allen,  Educational 
Director,  American  Institute 
of  Banking. 


298 


APPENDIX 


Characteristic  writing  of  business  men  in  the  early  days  of  our 
country.  These  autographs  appear  on  the  original  agreement 
which  formed  the  first  stock  exchange  in  New  York  City,  in  1792. 
Whirls,  flourishes,  and  other  peculiarities  are  remarkably  plenty  in 
the  above,  which  is  an  indication  of  correct  writing  in  those  days. 


299 


APPENDIX 


One  of  the  few  legible  signatures  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


P.  M.  Hanney,  a  leading  Chicago  business  man,  and  a  director  in 
the  great  firm  of  Siegel  Cooper  &  Company. 


/rUjLUju*^/    ^).  A^2 


General   counsel   for  the  American  Bankers'  Association,  and 
authority  on  American  banking  law. 


Retired  Major  General  of  the  United  States  Army. 

300 


APPENDIX 


AUTOGRAPH    SIGNATURES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS    OP 
THE   UNITED   STATES 


301 


APPENDIX 


A  a. 


302 


APPENDIX 


303 


APPENDIX 


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